Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Dear District 23 Community,
We’re sharing this message in an effort to keep our students, families, and staff informed as the situation with COVID-19 continues to evolve.
At this point, School District 23 has no known cases of COVID-19 in our school community.
We continue to be in frequent communication with the Illinois and Cook County Departments of Public Health, the Illinois State Board of Education, local officials, and neighboring districts to review guidance and coordinate planning/response.
At this time, all District 23 schools are open. However, we will be cancelling before- and after-school clubs, sporting events, evening activities, assemblies that bring in outside people and other activities with outside visitors. This includes the use of our buildings by outside organizations who rent our facilities, as we work with CDC guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus.
If your child is in the EDP Program or Kinderstop, those programs will remain open.
While it is my hope that we will be able to keep our schools open, we are following the guidelines of the federal, state, and county health departments, and we have a plan in place to respond if we have cases of COVID-19 in our school or if preventative measures are necessary. As part of that plan, we are moving from a monitoring phase into a preparation phase. This means that students, staff, and parents should prepare for a potential extended school closure.
Starting with the end of the day today, students and staff should begin regularly bringing home all workbooks, devices, and other materials necessary to stay current with work. Parents should be prepared for school to close, with possible short notice as we continue to collaborate with agencies and other districts.
As you know, our schools are closed next Tuesday for an Institute Day on Election Day (March 17), a decision we made years ago for safety concerns. Only a small area of MacArthur school is open to voters, and that area will be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected that evening after the polls close. During the Institute Day, our staff will continue to work collaboratively to develop materials for “Distance Learning” activities that would enable us to maintain some level of student engagement and sense of normalcy, should an extended school closure be implemented.
Again, District 23 schools are open at this time. We will continue to communicate with our staff and families as we get more information, as early as possible. Thank you for your understanding and for working with us as we all do our part to prevent the spread of this virus in our community.
Sincerely,
Don Angelaccio, Ed.D.
Superintendent
