Last night at the August 2 Special Meeting, the Board voted to approve the Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan for the 2021-22 school year. In approving that plan, the following changes take effect.
Face coverings
District 113 follows the guidance of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and accordingly, all persons regardless of vaccination status will be required to wear masks in all District 113 facilities effective immediately. The language in the plan was updated to align with July 27 CDC masking recommendations for schools, fully adopted by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), and then strengthened by IDPH and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) on August 2.
We expect that IHSA will update its guidance on face coverings and athletics to align with the August 2 guidance. Until we have that updated IHSA guidance, there may be inconsistencies similar to those experienced in summer school between instruction and extracurricular activities and athletics.
Vaccination Status and SHIELD Testing Consent
Later today, the IC Portal will open for parents/guardians to securely submit vaccination status for their students. Only school nurses have access to student health records in our student information system (Infinite Campus), and they will use this information when situations arise that require knowing who is vaccinated. School nurses will verify the vaccine information provided in the Illinois database for vaccination information I-CARE, the Illinois Comprehensive Automated Immunization Registry Exchange.
Students of parents or guardians who do not respond will be considered unvaccinated for any situation for which vaccination status makes a difference.
For students who are unvaccinated, SHIELD testing will be required as a condition to participate in extracurricular activities and athletics. More details will be provided in the coming weeks when testing times and locations are determined.
Vaccinated students and staff may opt to participate in SHIELD testing on a voluntary basis.
The guidance is subject to change and we will align with those changes when they occur. Just as we did throughout the 2020-21 school year, we will continue to bring to the Board updates to guidance, reports on school operations and metrics on vaccination and transmission as we review and evaluate changing conditions and their impact on our schools.
