Good morning.
As we begin a new week of school, I have a few updates. In the spirit of transparency and timely communication, this is a bit longer than my usual messages.
COVID-19 Considerations
In the past few weeks, we have had an uptick of positive COVID-19 cases which has increased the number of students identified by the Health Department as needing to quarantine as close contacts due to proximity at lunch.
Each school will be implementing changes to the lunch period to ensure that students avoid close contact with a positive case during the lunch period. These changes include: limiting the unmasked time while eating to less than 15 minutes, allowing students to move around during the lunch period to limit continued exposure to the same individuals, pulling up masks following eating/when socializing, and utilizing a 6-foot distance during lunch. Space and enrollment at various grades differ among the schools, therefore each school will determine which of the additional mitigation strategies can be implemented.
Additionally, according to ISBE guidelines, any fully vaccinated individual will not be required to quarantine as a result of close contact with a positive case, unless they are symptomatic. This includes all students, ages 5 and older, and staff members.
COVID-19 is now a vaccine-preventable disease for those ages 5 and older. While we are unsure when changes to masking may be considered by the State of Illinois, we do know that we can have a return to more typical routines, including lunch, with vaccinated students. Please find information about our upcoming vaccine clinics here. For those who would like to learn more about COVID-19 vaccines for 5 to 11-year-olds, please join us for our webcast with Dr. Michael Bauer of Northwestern Medicine today at noon. This will be livestreamed and available for later viewing online. You may find the livestream link here.
Bullying
I want to acknowledge outreach from parents in recent weeks about alleged bullying behavior among some of our students. We are grateful to those who contacted us and are taking these concerns very seriously by investigating each situation brought to our attention. We remain committed to creating a safe and welcoming school environment for all students and staff and bullying behavior is unacceptable.
Our District 67 staff members are trained on an ongoing basis through our Foundations framework and other professional learning to understand, recognize, and address different types of bullying behavior. In an effort to address current concerns, building principals, psychologists, and social workers are meeting this week to discuss next steps.
It is critical as a community that we work together to address bullying. As noted by the National Association of School Psychologists, “Adults can make a difference by knowing what to look for and by taking action to help both bullies and victims. Children and youth can learn to identify, avoid, and discourage bullying behaviors.” We will continue our focus on both.
In the meantime, students who have a concern about bullying behavior toward themselves or others are strongly encouraged to seek out a trusted adult at school (teacher, principal, school social worker, psychologist, or school nurse) and tell a parent/guardian. Parents and guardians should contact their principal immediately.
Bullying has no home in our schools. Please find two resources for parents and guardians below, one providing an overview on bullying for parents and another intended to help parents and guardians spark conversations about bullying with their children. We will keep you updated on plans as we continue to address this issue in the District.
All In
I communicated with you last week regarding Winter Sing. While it was determined that these performances will be hosted remotely, I want to underscore my continued commitment to All In, Every Day. I met with our District 67 administrators on Thursday to discuss this. I reiterated my expectation that as many events as possible will be held in person while adhering to appropriate health and safety mitigations. Future requests to meet/host school events remotely will be reviewed by Deputy Superintendent Rebecca Jenkins.
In my next message, I look forward to sharing highlights of our recent community satisfaction survey as well as a few reflections about my first 100 days on the job.
Sincerely,
