What will the next school year look like? Local districts to continue to follow state, CDC guidance

With the State of Illinois on track to enter Phase 5 of its COVID-19 reopening plan June 11, officials with Kendall County’s two largest school districts have confirmed they will continue to follow guidance concerning the coronavirus from state and federal agencies as they plan for the opening of 2021-2022 school year in August.

Under Phase 5, remaining capacity limits and restrictions on all sectors of the state’s economy will be lifted. Large events will be allowed to function at full capacity and masks will no longer be required for vaccinated individuals in most instances, in accordance with Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidance.

Yorkville School District 115 Director of Communications & Community Engagement Kristine Liptrot and Oswego Community School District 308 Director of Communications and Public Relations Theresa Komitas have confirmed to the Record Newspapers the districts will continue to follow guidance from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for the upcoming school year.

Komitas additionally stated that further details on mitigation measures such as masks have not yet been released “so we don’t yet know what that will look like next year.”

On May 19, the ISBE unanimously adopted a resolution declaring that all schools must fully resume in-person learning for all student attendance days in the 2021-2022 school year “subject to favorable public health conditions.”

YSD 115 offered full in-person learning for the entirety of the recently completed 2020-2021 school year, while OSD 308 started the school year in full remote learning before gradually phasing-in in-person learning over the course of the school year.

A supplementary document from ISBE confirmed that the COVID-19 vaccine will not be required for students, though ISBE encourages students to receive the vaccine.

“Students are not currently required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine,” the document reads. “ISBE encourages families to use the summer months to ensure that eligible children get vaccinated. The vaccines are safe, effective, and proven to protect recipients from getting sick.”

Students who are eligible to receive the vaccine but have not done so may still attend school in person.

“Students are not currently required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine; therefore students who do not receive the vaccine are not required to be excluded,” the document continued.

However, students may be required to quarantine, as state or their district’s guidance dictates.

While YSD 115 has not released its plans for the 2021-2022 school year, OSD 308 has announced several details about the upcoming school year confirmed to be five days a week for full school days, including limitations for remote learning along with information on the daily schedules for different grade levels.