Oswego School Superintendent: Goal is to start next school year with five days a week, full days of classroom instruction

While plans have not been finalized, Oswego School District 308 Superintendent Dr. John Sparlin said during a public forum Monday evening, March 1, that the district has a goal to start the 2021-2022 school year with students in person for five days a week for full days of school.

During the forum held in the Oswego East High School Performing Arts Center, Cindy Rook, a district parent, asked the board and administrators what the plan is for the next school year. All of the district’s more than 17,000 students began the school year in full remote learning last August due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past several weeks, students have been participating in hybrid learning which includes remote and in-person instruction.

“There’s over 300 million people in this country, in the United States of America. Less than 250 children have died of the coronavirus...Those are the facts,” Rook said. “We’ve mitigated this risk as a district, you guys have mitigated this risk of death to children very well by providing remote so parents who are fearful of their children dying in school can send their kids to remote, and I’m sure that they appreciate that.”

Rook cited statistics regarding suicide deaths for school-age children as the third-leading cause of death in that age range.

“250 out of 300 million, which, yes, is very sad, but it’s also minuscule to the number of children that are hurting in this district and around this country from not being in school,” Rook said. “So my question is...why is there currently no plan in place or in the foreseeable future to return our children to five days a week back in school?”

“We have begun the conversations on what does it look like, five days, full days. We’re talking about next year, but to be perfectly honest right now we’re focused on right here, right now,” Sparlin responded.

Sparlin added that he and Associate Superintendent for Educational Services Faith Dahlquist had discussed the plan for the 2021-2022 school year that day, including what it would look like, who would be involved in those decisions, and when it will be presented to the Board of Education.

“Our goal is to get back to five days of in person learning next year,” he said.

Rook then asked if the district’s goal is to begin the school year with five days a week of in-person learning, later confirming that this would be for full days of schooling.

“That is the goal,” Sparlin said.

Board President Lauri Doyle noted the district is currently required to provide an option of remote learning for students.

The district has not received word as to whether or not a remote learning option will be required for the 2021-2022 school year, Sparlin later said.

The district will end the 2020/2021 school year with its third phase of hybrid learning, approved at the March 1 meeting, and set to take effect April 7.