After 4-3 vote, District 25 will stick with hybrid learning this month, except Thomas

In a vote that reflected a divided community, the Arlington Heights Elementary District 25 board chose Friday to continue with a hybrid learning model rather than go all-remote until Jan. 19.

The exception is Thomas Middle School, which will remain closed through Dec. 14 because of an outbreak of COVID-19 there.

Superintendent Lori Bein informed parents in an email Wednesday that 11 positive cases of the disease were "recently reported" in the school.

"The Cook County Department of Public Health stated that it would be ideal for me to move the school into a full remote learning model at this time," Bein wrote. Staff members were asked to work remotely, and "we will further assess their return to the building as it is safe to do so."

The school board's 4-3 vote Friday night against going all-remote in the remaining District 25 schools reflected dueling petitions that parents had been circulating and feedback school leaders had been receiving.

"We're a completely divided community," school board President Brian Cerniglia said. "For every email I have received from an angry parent demanding that District 25 put our kids back in school, I have received an equal number of emails from concerned parents who don't want to risk the further spread of this deadly virus."

District 25 officials said they received 220 public comments against what's called an adaptive pause, where in-person learning is suspended in whole or in part temporarily, with 254 encouraging the board to vote in favor of it.

Cerniglia said the district has received countless emails telling it to look at the science. But, he said, "if I get another email asking me to look at the science, my head is going to explode."

He said the science has not been consistent, saying the CDC rubric has supported taking an adaptive pause, while CDC officials in a news conference have suggested school is the safest place for children.

Voting against the pause were board members Scott Filipek, Chad Conley, Gina Faso and Rich Olejniczak. Those in favor were Cerniglia, Erin Johannesen, and Anisha Ismail Patel.

Faso and Olejniczak cited the district's improved overall metrics and its mitigation measures. Olejniczak called the measures "something that we all should be proud of."

"I personally am in awe of what the teachers do every day, and we continually need to ask those challenging questions of how can we help them," Olejniczak said.

Filipek said a visit to schools Friday confirmed for him the mitigation measures were working and students were complying.

"We are trusting our kids, and they are doing a phenomenal job," he said. "What's best for our kids is to keep them in those schools."

Cerniglia cited staffing constraints and teacher burnout in voting for the pause.

Under the hybrid program, students attend full-day, in-person classes twice a week, although families can choose all-remote learning.

Parent Melisa Whalen-Andrews said a pro-pause petition had garnered more than 500 signatures. Her children have been doing all-remote learning, but she said she's worried about the safety of teachers, staff members and students who are in classrooms.

"We are the only district ... within a five- to 10-mile radius that is not in adaptive pause," she said.

Parent Renee Simkus Schlenhardt said more than 300 people signed the petition to continue in-person learning. Families should continue having a choice and shutting down the in-person option especially hurts kids with special needs and English language learners, she said.

The school board last month set Jan. 19 as the date to return to full in-person learning if the positivity rate in suburban Cook County drops below 8%, or there are fewer than 70 new weekly cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people in the Arlington Heights area. The 7-day positivity rate is at about 12% now.