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District 7 Families,

Due to the rising COVID-positive numbers within our school communities, the District made the difficult decision to pause in-person instruction for all students beginning on Monday, November 30 through Friday, December 18, 2020. In making this decision, the District factored in the following:

• Within the past two weeks, it has become increasingly more difficult to secure substitute teachers and maintain appropriate staffing levels throughout the District due to the number of staff quarantined.  There are currently 48 staff members under quarantine throughout the District including teachers, administrators, nurses, maintenance workers, custodians, secretarial staff, etc.–all of whom are vital to keeping our schools operating safely.
• The District consulted with the Madison County Health Department. The health department informed District 7 that due to the surge and backlog of positive cases within our community, for at least the next few weeks the agency would be unable to assist with contact tracing or provide documentation when students were cleared to come back to school.
• The State of Illinois is under new Tier 3 Mitigation restrictions put in place by the Governor, and the City of Edwardsville is under an emergency order.

We recognize that a remote setting is not ideal for all students-especially younger students.  Remote instruction requires assistance from families in order to be successful, and because of this, the decision to pause in-person learning at that grade level was not taken lightly.  Next week, families will be sent a list of guidelines and suggestions that will assist them in helping to make the remote learning experience a positive one for their students.

Monday, November 30, 2020 will be a remote planning day for staff members  to prepare for remote instruction. Students will not receive any direct instruction on this day.  On Tuesday, December 1, remote instruction will resume across the District.   District 7 teachers are ready to provide a positive remote learning experience during this pause of in-person instruction.  While there will certainly be glitches and bumps along the road, we ask for you to extend grace to the staff and demonstrate flexibility and understanding as we shift our instructional practices during this difficult time.

Accessing Technology/Internet During Remote Learning 

During our period of remote learning, District 7 will have additional technology and internet access available for students at the following three schools:

• Edwardsville High School between the hours of 7:00 AM and 2:00 PM
• Liberty Middle School between the hours of 7:30 AM and 2:00 PM
• Worden Elementary School between the hours of 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM

Elementary and middle school students will need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian while accessing technology/internet at any District 7 school during the times listed above.

In addition, District 7 has partnered with other community entities who are willing to provide free wi-fi access.  Please click here for a list of locations within our communities where free wi-fi is available.

Parents with additional questions involving accessing technology should call their child’s principal for assistance.

 

Picking Up Breakfast and Lunches During Remote Learning 

During remote learning, families will still be able to access free breakfast and lunches every day Monday through Friday for their students.

The procedure for receiving meals is as follows:

• Meal pickup hours will take place from 7:30am until 1:30pm (Monday through Friday) at all school locations.
• We will offer a full week of Breakfast and Lunch meals in grab and go format.

• We will have curb-side service at all locations so there will be no need to exit your vehicle.

To better plan for meal preparation required for the first week of service, a form will be sent home/emailed to all students.  Please return the form with student(s) no later than Tuesday, November 24, 2020 or email the completed form to Shira Patterson at spatterson@ecusd7.org.

 

COVID Dashboard 

The surge of positive COVID cases within our communities and schools has had an effect on our students and staff.  In addition to the positive cases listed in the dashboard, District 7 currently has 48 staff members and 538 students that are quarantined. Upon return to in-person instruction, the COVID dashboard will include the number of quarantined staff and students as well as the number of positive cases.

You can view the District 7 COVID dashboard by visiting our website or by clicking here:

As a final reminder, all students will continue on their current schedule for Monday, November 23rd and Tuesday, November 24th.  All of the changes outlined in this communication will begin on Monday, November 30th.

Respectfully,

Dr. Jason Henderson

District 7 Families,

Earlier today, high school families were notified that Edwardsville High School will move to a 100% remote setting beginning on Monday, November 16th through Thanksgiving break. In the time since that notification was sent, numbers have been further updated.  Over the past two weeks EHS has had twelve students test positive for Covid-19 and 220 students quarantined due to close contact with a Covid-19 positive individual.  During that same time frame, EHS has had nine employees exposed and required to quarantine.  As a result of the positive cases, there have been three confirmed outbreaks at EHS within the last week.

The temporary shift to full remote instruction for the next two weeks currently applies only to Edwardsville High School.  Students at the elementary and middle school levels will continue on their current instructional plan at this time.

The District 7 COVID-19 dashboard for all schools was updated as of 11 AM this morning.  It can be viewed by visiting the District 7 website or by clicking on the following link:  District 7 COVID-19 Dashboard.

In addition, families should be continuing to receive notifications from the school directly any time there is a COVID-19 positive case within that building.

We are hopeful that we will begin to see cases in our area and specifically within our schools decrease in the coming weeks.  Thank you all for your continued patience and support as we navigate the pandemic together.

Respectfully,

Dr. Jason Henderson

District 7 Families,

Please read this entire communication and complete your second semester instructional environment selection by clicking on the link at the end of this communication.

We appreciate the input from all stakeholders as we have worked to transition back to school during the first quarter of the 2020-2021 school year.  So far adapting to school in the pandemic environment has been a steep learning curve for our students, parents, and staff.

Our goal is to provide as much continuity as possible for both students and staff during this unprecedented time; therefore, All District 7 schools will remain in the current schedule for the remainder of the second quarter.  At the middle and high school levels, this means that students will continue with the current A/B hybrid schedule. Elementary schools will continue to provide five days per week of in-person instruction.

District 7 is committed to safely increasing in-person learning for all students. For the second semester, families will continue to have the option to select 100% remote learning. In order to increase in-person learning for students under the proposed Second Semester Transition Plan, health metrics must be reached and maintained. The schedules below are subject to change based upon the prevalence of COVID-19 within our communities.  The District will continue to consult with the Madison County Health Department in the coming months to review current data and statistics.  If at any point, the Madison County Health Department determines it is unsafe to continue in-person instruction, more restrictive scheduling options would be put in place.

District 7 has outlined a second semester transition plan listed below based upon the information currently available.  Please click here to view the entire Second Semester Transition Plan.

In order to increase in-person instruction time, beginning next semester, students in grades 6-12 will increase their days of attendance. All grade levels will continue to operate in the second semester on the same daily time schedule (EHS: 7:20-11:50, Middle Schools: 8:00-12:40, Elementary: 9:15-2:30).

Elementary (Pre-K through 5th grade) 

There is no change for Pre-K through 5th grade students as they will continue to receive in-person instruction five days a week during the second semester.

Middle School (6th-8th grade)

Beginning on Monday, January 4th, the first two weeks of the second semester at the middle school level will be on a hybrid, rotating (A/B) schedule.  Please note as of January 4, 2021, Fridays in the hybrid schedule will be in-person learning days with an alternating schedule instead of remote days. This means in-person instruction is as follows:

Monday, January 4th	“A” Day	Monday, January 11th	“B” Day
Tuesday, January 5th	“B” Day	Tuesday, January 12th	“A” Day
Wednesday, January 6th	“A” Day	Wednesday, January 13th	“B” Day
Thursday, January 7th	“B” Day	Thursday, January 14th	“A” Day
Friday, January 8th	“A” Day	Friday, January 15th	“B” Day

Any return to hybrid during the second semester would follow this alternating A/B schedule for in-person learning.

Beginning on Tuesday, January 19th, middle school students will begin attending in-person daily.  The start date of January 19 would be pushed back based on adverse health metrics, specifically, if District 7 middle schools were to have multiple outbreaks of COVID cases between now and the end of the first semester or within the first two weeks of the second semester.

District 7 will continue to notify parents anytime there is a COVID positive student or staff member. At the middle school level, the majority of students stay in the same classroom with the teachers traveling from room to room.  When students return to daily in-person instruction, students will continue to be socially distanced to the greatest extent possible. Efforts will be made to keep class sizes as low as enrollment allows, however, there may be classes that contain up to 32 students making it not feasible to keep students spaced 6 feet apart.  All other mitigation protocols will remain in place.

High School (9th-12th grade) 

Beginning on Monday, January 4th, the first two weeks of the second semester at the high school level will continue on a hybrid, rotating (A/B) schedule. Please note as of January 4, 2021, Fridays in the hybrid schedule will be in-person learning days with an alternating schedule instead of remote days. This means in-person instruction is as follows:

Monday, January 4th	“A” Day	Monday, January 11th	“B” Day
Tuesday, January 5th	“B” Day	Tuesday, January 12th	“A” Day
Wednesday, January 6th	“A” Day	Wednesday, January 13th	“B” Day
Thursday, January 7th	“B” Day	Thursday, January 14th	“A” Day
Friday, January 8th	“A” Day	Friday, January 15th	“B” Day

Any return to hybrid schedule during the second semester would follow this alternating A/B schedule for in-person learning.

Beginning on Tuesday, January 19th, all Edwardsville High School students will begin attending in-person daily.  However, the District will consult with the Madison County Health Department at the beginning of January to review current data and statistics.  If the Madison County Health Department determines it is unsafe to return to five days/week of in-person instruction at EHS, the District will notify all families. In addition, the start date of January 19 would also be pushed back based on the following:

• If EHS was to have multiple outbreaks of COVID cases between now and the end of the first semester or within the first two weeks of the second semester.
• If Madison County was under any State Resurgence Mitigation Policies that limits gatherings to less than 25 people.

If EHS is unable to return to five days/week of in-person instruction due to any of the conditions above, the students would remain on alternating A/B schedule for in-person learning. The District would continue to monitor the metrics with the Madison County Health Department and notify all high school families when 5 days/week of in-person instruction would begin at EHS.

The need for stricter metrics for all students to attend in-person daily at Edwardsville High School are due to the size and environment of the school.  At EHS, students will continue to move from room-to-room for the 6 periods.  When students return to daily in-person instruction, students will continue to be socially distanced to the greatest extent possible. Efforts will be made to keep class sizes as low as enrollment allows; however, there may be classes that contain up to 34 students making it not feasible to keep students spaced 6 feet apart.  All other mitigation protocols will remain in place.

Once all students are attending school daily, any change to a hybrid or a fully remote schedule will follow the guidelines outlined in the District’s Second Semester Transition Plan.  Any schedule revision from fully in-person to hybrid or remote settings will be communicated to all affected families from the District and building level through email, text, and recorded phone message.

 

Second Semester Instructional Environment Selection

All District 7 families must complete a second semester instructional environment selection below to determine either 100% remote or in-person learning for their students by Wednesday, November 4, 2020.  Please carefully review the information outlined within the second semester transition plan document (found at the attached link below) as you make your final decision.  In order to provide the necessary staffing levels for remote and in-person classes, implement student schedule changes, and provide additional professional development for staff based upon the results of the instructional environment selection for the second semester, the District will not be able to accommodate changes to parent decisions after Wednesday, November 4, 2020.  When completing the instructional environment selection process, you are committing to your decision for the entire second semester of the 2020-2021 school year.

As the District plans for the second semester of the 2020-2021 school year, please be aware that students transitioning from 100% remote to in-person learning could be required to attend a different building for the second semester depending upon in-person learning class sizes. We hope to avoid this wherever possible, but the District is bound by class size limitations. Another potential outcome of class size limitations is the possibility that some students could have a different teacher for the second semester.

It is our objective to keep the amount of transition and change for all students to a minimum for the second semester.  However, we want to make sure that families understand that some change is possible based on parents’ second semester instructional environment selection.

All District 7 families must select a second semester instructional environment for their student(s) by clicking here

We appreciate your continued support as we work to provide a quality education for all District 7 students.

Respectfully,

Dr. Jason Henderson

Superintendent

Edwardsville CUSD7