Lockport Central emergency closing highlights issues with limited e-learning days

Lockport — A new complication has arisen for Lockport Township High School District 205 as a result of having to close Central Campus since a ceiling collapse in November.

The issue concerns a state law limiting schools using online learning.

After the collapse of the school ceiling Nov. 2, students from Central Campus were switched to online learning while the district investigated the building for safety and explored alternate locations for classes.

Ultimately, the decision was made to relocate students to the unused Lincoln-Way North campus Nov. 15, but in the interim, students attended classes online for seven days.

Earlier this month, when snow and sub-zero temperatures forced many Illinois schools to close their buildings and declare e-learning days, District 205 was unable to follow suit. While the district did still close its doors Jan. 12 and 16, students were given a classic snow day instead of an e-learning day.

The reason for the full closure is the earlier crisis at Central caused the district to used up all of its allotted days – even though the majority of Lockport students attended school in-person during those November e-learning days.

Central campus normally serves as a freshman campus. East campus serves sophomores, juniors and seniors.

Those two January snow days, and any other additional time off the district may need to call for bad weather in the coming months, will now need to be made up later in the year, potentially by extending the school year another few days.

State educational requirements mandate that districts incorporate five emergency extension days as well as four institute days into their calendars along with the required 176 school days. The District 205 school year is slated to end just before Memorial Day on May 24, but extensions could see classes continuing until June 3.

This situation points out an issue with state regulations on e-learning days, which were passed after the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent schools from becoming overly-reliant on e-learning outside of a declared national or state emergency.

However, the state regulations do not leave room for schools dealing with localized facility emergencies during a year when extreme weather may also cause widespread closures.

“Post-COVID, Illinois passed a law which saw that if any students don’t have access to in-person learning, it counts for the whole district,” District 205 Superintendent Dr. Robert McBride said. “If a building, or a grade level are forced to close, it counts for everyone.”

“This is probably a statute that has a great argument to be revisited and revised, because I’m sure we won’t be the last district to have a problem like this. I hope when I get the opportunity to maybe try to lobby the state for changes.”

—  Dr. Robert McBride, superintendent for Lockport Township High School District 205

In those immediate days following the Central closure, Central Campus students used five e-learning days, and the district was able to get the additional days declared as emergency ‘Act of God’ days by the state. By getting that declaration, those freshman students then would not have to make up those days at the end of the year.

However, that did not exempt East Campus students from the used up e-learning days.

“The law was passed to incentivize in-person learning after the pandemic and take away the option for full e-learning outside of an emergency declaration,” McBride said. “We asked and asked about it, but no appeal process or special exemption exists. We went as high as we could and it’s just a fact.”

McBride noted that the district worked with the Will County Regional Board of Education on the issue, but could not get around the regulation.

“There was a great deal of sympathy and empathy, and we received a lot of help from the regional board, but this is the predicament we’re in right now,” McBride said. “This is probably a statute that has a great argument to be revisited and revised, because I’m sure we won’t be the last district to have a problem like this. I hope when I get the opportunity to maybe try to lobby the state for changes.”

When asked for comment on the issue, the Illinois State Board of Education office of communication responded, “these laws are in place to ensure that students receive the full number of days of instruction they are entitled to by law in a school year,” despite the fact that e-learning days do give students instruction remotely. The office directed further questions about possible changes to the General Assembly.