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Archive for the ‘The New Normal?’ Category

Temperature scans, symptom checks welcome Saint Viator students back to school

Posted in Pritzker’s Rules of Order, The New Normal?, Topics Of Interest on August 24, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Students form three lines to have their temperature checked Monday at Saint Viator High School in Arlington Heights. (John Starks | Staff Photographer)

Symptom checks and temperature scans joined new classes and meetups with old friends as essential elements of the first day of school Monday at Saint Viator High School in Arlington Heights.

Nearly all of the school’s 837 students chose in-person learning this fall as Saint Viator became one of just a handful of Northwest suburban schools — most of them private — to offer that option.

Students also have the choice to attend remotely, but only a few chose, in addition to 56 international students, picked that option.

Before entering the building each day, students must complete a symptom checker through an emailed link. Their temperature then is checked at the door and movement through hallways is controlled through directional markings.

Everyone in the building must wear a mask at all times, except when eating lunch. Students are assigned a seat in all classes and in the lunchroom, where preordered box lunches are provided.

Read more here.

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9 suburban school districts returning students to classrooms full time, 30 opening with blended models and 66 will be remote.

Posted in 220, 300, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, The New Normal?, Topics Of Interest on August 17, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Hundreds of thousands of suburban children are resuming schoolwork within the next few weeks, but this year fewer than 6,200 of them will go back to their classrooms full time.

Only 9 of 105 suburban districts are offering “in-person” learning, the Illinois State Board of Education reports.

Another 30 of the suburban school districts will open with a “blended” model, where students are split into two groups and alternate between remote learning and in-class sessions.

The remaining 66 suburban school districts will have full-time remote learning, with kids having classes exclusively online.

Those opening for in-person learning are:

  • Butler Elementary District 53 in Oak Brook
  • Glen Ellyn Elementary District 89
  • Grass Lake Elementary District 36 in Antioch
  • Itasca Elementary District 10
  • Medinah Elementary District 11
  • Rondout Elementary District 72 in Lake Forest
  • Roselle Elementary District 12
  • Rosemont Elementary District 78, and
  • West Northfield Elementary District 31 in Northbrook

Read more from the Daily Herald here,

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McCormick Place hospital’s cost to taxpayers?

Posted in Commodius Maximus, Cook, County, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Taxes, The New Normal? on August 14, 2020| Leave a Comment »

$1.7 million per patient!

(From left) Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, touring the $65.9 million emergency coronavirus hospital at McCormick Place on April 17 — the day Pritzker announced the first five patients had been transferred there. Only 33 more would follow. Tyler LaRiviere / Sun-Times

Taxpayers spent nearly $66 million fashioning McCormick Place into an emergency coronavirus hospital with 2,750 beds this past spring amid fears that COVID-19 patients would overwhelm hospitals in the Chicago area.

Those fears turned out to be unfounded. Just 38 patients were transferred to the sprawling convention center — meaning taxpayers’ cost for the makeshift hospital turned out to be more than $1.7 million per patient, on average.

But top aides to Mayor Lori Lightfoot say her decision to initiate the project with the federal government and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority was an important “insurance policy” at a time of “immense emergency.”

“It’s something I’m incredibly proud of,” says Samir Mayekar, Lightfoot’s deputy mayor for economic and neighborhood development who says the money was “not spent in vain.”

He also notes that the medical equipment is being stored and can be redeployed if needed.

To complete the McCormick Place project, the authority — a city-state governmental body known as McPier that runs the convention center and owns Navy Pier — tapped Walsh Construction, a politically connected Chicago company that’s built everything from highways to high-rises.

Read the full Sun*Times Watchdog report here.

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Saint Anne Parish School to offer In-Person Learning and “Parallel Digital Instruction” to start school year

Posted in 220, Saint Anne Parish School, School Districts, The New Normal? on August 13, 2020| 1 Comment »

Saint Anne Parish School classrooms meet all COVID compliant guidelines.

Following is a letter published yesterday by Saint Anne Parish School:

“As always, we remain committed to a safe student-centered learning environment. As you know, this school year we will be doing that by offering two main platforms of instruction: In Person Learning and Parallel Digital Instruction. Students engaged in In-Person Learning will be grouped into cohorts and abide by the safety procedures that we have put into place.

August 12, 2020

Dear Saint Anne Parish School families,

As always, we remain committed to a safe student-centered learning environment.  As you know, this school year we will be doing that by offering two main platforms of instruction:  In Person Learning and Parallel Digital Instruction.  Students engaged in In-Person Learning will be grouped into cohorts and abide by the safety procedures that we have put into place. 

Our Parallel Digital Instruction (PDI) will allow families who are not yet comfortable with In-Person Learning to live stream our teachers, and students to participate in the same curriculum as their in-person classmates while remaining a part of the St. Anne community. PDI learners will have the flexibility to rejoin their cohorts in person each trimester. However,  we have maintained our commitment to safety by setting up a desk for every PDI student in the classroom from the start of the school year regardless of their presence in the school!    Classroom set up  reflects that students will be sitting six feet apart! We hope that shows our commitment to every student and to safety.

Please review our dynamic  Saint Anne Parish School Reopening Plan  that was designed with all our stakeholders in mind – students, parents, and faculty/staff.  We are dedicated and prepared for not only a safe reopening but  it is our goal to remain open and that will take ALL of us to work together and focus on what is best for the children of Saint Anne Parish School!     In order to do so it was necessary to make adjustments to our school calendar.” 

Read more here.

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Delayed Barrington Art Walk back on schedule for September

Posted in Entertainment, The New Normal?, Topics Of Interest on August 13, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Barrington’s annual outdoor art festival, on hold since May due to COVID-19 concerns, will be held with safety precautions in place next month.

Village board members Monday night entered into a letter of agreement with Amdur Productions Inc. to produce the fest on Sept. 12 and 13. The 2020 Barrington Art Walk previously had been set for Memorial Day weekend on May 24 and 25.

About 50 juried artists, music and food vendors will be part of the event, held in the BMO Harris Bank parking lot in downtown Barrington. Safety requirements include facial coverings for artists, vendors and visitors — except for children 2 and younger — and social distancing. There will be a controlled entry into the festival area.

Instead of just showing up on downtown streets as in past years, patrons must make free online reservations for a one-hour time slot from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. or make an advance purchase of a flexible $10 VIP daily ticket at amdurproductions.com. Company President Amy Amdur said there will be temperature screenings before entry from Cook Street and a one-way flow for the patrons in the BMO Harris lot.

Read more here.

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220 Board approves Barrington 220 Roadmap to Reopening by a vote of 3-2

Posted in 220, Board of Education, Politics, Property Taxes, School Districts, The New Normal? on August 12, 2020| Leave a Comment »

“At its August 11 meeting, the Board approved a resolution to adopt the district’s Roadmap to Reopening, which states students will begin the 2020-21 school year with Distance Learning. The first day of school for grades 1-12 is Thursday, August 20. The first day of school for PK and kindergarten is Monday, August 24.

The district plans to remain in Distance Learning mode until at least Friday, October 16. A district committee made up of school nurses, teachers, support staff and school administrators is working to create re-entry criteria that will be used, in conjunction with local health guidelines, to determine when students can safely return to in-person learning.”

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Illinois businesses can be fined up to $2,500 for refusing to comply with mask mandate

Posted in Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Public Safety, Springfield, The New Normal? on August 12, 2020| Leave a Comment »

SPRINGFIELD — A legislative panel that oversees the state’s administrative rulemaking process voted along partisan lines to allow Gov. JB Pritzker’s emergency rule to enforce mask-wearing and other public health orders to move forward.

That decision came from the General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, or JCAR, a 12-member, bipartisan, bicameral group that exercises oversight of the state’s regulatory process.

Pritzker announced the new enforcement measure on Friday, Aug. 7, as 13 counties were put on warning that they may have to reimpose some social and economic restrictions to control the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The order requires businesses, schools and day care facilities to make “reasonable efforts” to ensure that patrons and employees wear face coverings when they cannot maintain a six-foot distance from others. Reasonable efforts can include such things as posting signage that state face coverings are required, giving verbal warnings to customers to wear face coverings, offering a mask to patrons and asking customers to leave if they refuse.

Read more here.

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220 Board of Education meets tonight.

Posted in 220, Agendas, Board of Education, Deception, District 220 referendum, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, The New Normal?, Video Streaming on August 11, 2020| Leave a Comment »

The Barrington CUSD 220 Board of Education meets tonight at 7:00 PM at 215 Eastern Ave. Some of the topics for discussion and/or vote on their agenda include:

  • Consideration to Approve Construction Manager Contract with Pepper Construction Company
  • Consideration to Approve Architect Contract with DLR Group
  • Consideration to Approve Superintendent Search Firm Contract
  • Tentative 2020-21 Budget Discussion

A copy of their agenda can be viewed here. Those wishing to watch the meeting via YouTube can find the link here.

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Most Lake Zurich 95 students have signed up for in-person classes this fall

Posted in 220, Board of Education, County, Lake, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, The New Normal?, Topics Of Interest on August 9, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Lake Zurich Unit School District 95 borders Barrington CUSD 220 as seen on the map above (click to enlarge).

About two-thirds of students in Lake Zurich Unit School District 95 will spend at least part of their time in classrooms this fall, according to district officials working to develop safety precautions before school begins.

The school board last week unanimously approved plans that give parents the option to choose either at-home learning or a hybrid of in-person and at-home learning.

Jean Malek, the district’s director of communications, said about 32% of students overall selected full e-learning. Malek said 35% of elementary school students, 32% of middle school students and 28% of high school students will attend all classes electronically.

To allow time for school officials to create schedules, assign staffing and determine transportation routes, parents had until the end of July to decide.

Regardless of choice, e-learning classes are scheduled to begin for every student in the district on Aug. 24, with the beginning of in-person classes staggered by grade level. In-person start dates are: special education on Aug. 24, kindergarten through second grade on Sept. 8, third through sixth on Sept. 14, seventh through ninth on Sept. 28, and high school sophomores through seniors on Oct. 5.

In the time since the school board decided to offer a hybrid model, some of the biggest school districts in the state — including Chicago Public Schools and U-46 — have elected to conduct classes remotely. Nearby districts such as Barrington Area Unit District 220 and Round Lake Area Unit District 116 both will start the year with remote learning only.

Read more from the Daily Herald here.

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Barrington SD220 students to start academic year remote: ‘No substitute for face-to-face learning, but we must keep students safe at all costs’

Posted in 220, Board of Education, Deception, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, The New Normal?, Video Streaming on August 7, 2020| 1 Comment »

Public health guidelines combined with district survey results has led to Barrington School District 220 now moving to start the new academic year with remote-only learning, district officials said.

“I have this constant struggle between my head and my heart,” Superintendent Brian Harris during a special board meeting Tuesday. “We know having kids in our schools is the best place for them but there are significant reasons why we cannot right now.”

Initially, the district had three plans for starting the 2020-2021 school year which included having students in-person at school buildings, distance learning and a hybrid mix of both.

Harris released an entirely remote learning plan to parents July 29 and talked about it during the special meeting Tuesday – which was held in-person and broadcast on the district’s YouTube social media channel.

The superintendent offered an overview on the new plan and the reasoning behind it. Seventeen people, in total, shared their concerns with the board in person, remotely and by email. A town hall meeting was planned for Aug. 6 to answer any additional questions.

Read the Barrington Courier-Review/Tribune spin on Tuesday’s meeting here.

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