Darien Districts Push State To Loosen Rules

DARIEN, IL — Darien school superintendents last week joined their colleagues in DuPage County to push for loosening a state rule for quarantining of students.

The superintendents for Darien School District 61, Cass School District 63 and Hinsdale High School District 86 signed a letter to the Illinois School Board of Education asking to change "mismatched guidelines."

The superintendents noted the reduction of social distancing to 3 feet helped them reopen their schools in the last couple of months.

But they said the state still requires them to quarantine those students who were within 6 feet of those diagnosed with the coronavirus.

A few positive cases, they said, results in large-scale quarantining of students, which is hurting entire schools.

"We are seeing students opting to remain in remote learning, against what both they and we as educators would likely prefer, simply to avoid being unnecessarily quarantined as a result of this rule," the superintendents said in their May 5 letter.

Students also are remaining remote to avoid quarantines that would prevent them from taking part in graduation, senior celebrations, and athletic and extracurricular competitions.

Recently, a student leader at Hinsdale Central High School acknowledged this was the case among students.

Patch left a message for comment with a spokeswoman for the state school board.