Naperville District 203 delaying start date, adjusting Return to Learn plan

Naperville Unit District 203 is postponing the start of the next academic year and has suspended indefinitely the deadline for parents to choose if they want their students to attend a fully online academy.

The district on Tuesday posted a message on its website saying administrators are “in the process of reevaluating our initial Return to Learn Plan” after superintendents last Thursday received updated guidance from the Illinois State Board of Education.

The first day of school now is anticipated to be Tuesday, Sept. 1, Superintendent Dan Bridges said in Tuesday's message. Administrators are finalizing a modified school calendar and plan to release it Aug. 3.

The district is making these changes – and possibly others – as it reevaluates its plan to adhere to the new “2020 Fall Learning Recommendations” from the state. The document provides what Bridges described as “more specific detail and guidance for districts in planning for a return” to school amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

District 203 initially presented a Return to Learn plan on July 13, offering a hybrid option with in-person learning on alternating days or an online academy with no in-person attendance. The last day to enroll in the online academy had been moved back from July 22 to July 29 before administrators on Tuesday called off the deadline indefinitely.

“While planning for the 2020-2021 school year, we are working hard to balance the many, sometimes conflicting, needs of our whole community,” Bridges said in the message. “And, while there are many opinions about the best way to return, the health and safety of our students and staff will always be our first priority.”

The district's announcement about its evolving Return to Learn plan comes as school board members have been hearing concerns and complaints from all sides.

School board members Paul Leong and Charles Cush said they've heard from unhappy parents who want their children in school five days a week without masks, as well as unhappy parents who want all online instruction for all students, and other unhappy parents across the spectrum in between.

“The current plan is just making everyone furious,” Leong said before the district announced it is re-evaluating the plan.

Leong said he hopes a compromise can be found that will satisfy some concerns, such as offering the same virtual learning to all students enrolled in each grade level or class, whether they choose to attend in-person or to learn at home.

Cush said he hopes people realize there is no perfect solution while the new coronavirus is such a concern.

“This is a huge challenge,” Cush said, “and it's going to take a lot of flexibility on the part of the community to recognize that it's going to be really really difficult to meet everybody's needs.”

One of the louder concerns school board members are hearing comes from parents of high-achieving children at all grade levels, who say the online academy does not offer enough rigorous courses, such as Advanced Placement classes at the high school level, to adequately challenge their students.

Sherri Lasko is among parents who have raised that concern with school board members.

Lasko said only one of the classes her son had registered to take during his senior year before the pandemic set in is available in the online academy. She said she and her husband are at a higher risk for suffering severe symptoms should they catch the COVID-19 virus and her son does not want to return to school, so their best option is to withdraw him from Naperville North High School and find a college that will offer online courses to high school students. She's found three options so far.

“It's absurd,” Lasko said about the lack of offerings for high-achieving students. “This is a slap in the face to students who have worked so hard and applied themselves to get to this level of academic achievement.”

District 203 spokeswoman Sinikka Mondini said the district hears and shares those concerns and is working to address them.

“We want to make sure our students stay on track with the courses they wanted,” Mondini said.

Bridges' message on Tuesday said the district is working to ensure students who have selected either Return to Learn option – the hybrid in-person model or the online academy – have access to “selected specialized programs, such as Dual Language, and courses, such as Advanced Placement offerings.”

School board President Kristin Fitzgerald echoed the district's commitment to address concerns about offerings in the online academy and other issues with the Return to Learn plan.

Fitzgerald said the board and the district "care deeply about the needs of every learner" and are always making decisions with the best interests of students and staff members in mind. Leaders are working to ensure each student has access to "rigorous and challenging academics," as well as social and emotional supports and safety, she said.