D-205 Board Members Press For Full Reopening

ELMHURST, IL — Elmhurst school board members this week pushed for a full reopening of schools before the end of the school year. They said they wanted schools open with regular schedules five days a week, including at the middle schools, where the district provides few in-person days.

At Tuesday's board meeting. Superintendent Dave Moyer told the board he would present a revised reopening plan at the board's March 16 session. But he made no promises for a full reopening.

Nonetheless, Elmhurst School District 205 board members pressed for five full days a week of in-person learning this spring. One board member wanted a vote on fully reopening the middle schools no matter what the superintendent's plan says.

"It is difficult to support not opening our schools at this point," member Chris Kocinski said. "I would look for middle schools to be reopened in addition to our plans for elementary schools and the high school in the plan that gets presented in March. I would also plan to make a motion to vote specifically on the topic to fully reopen our middle schools, even if that's not a part of the plan. I think it's important enough to deserve a vote in public on its own."

Board member Jim Collins also said he wanted quicker action.

"I just cannot reconcile all of our nearby surrounding districts that have plans to open for a full day, and we have nothing on the table," he said.

Collins also said the district should work on a plan for the fall, saying parents should not have to wonder all summer about whether the schools will open for full days.

He said other districts have reopened and have suffered no calamities that he knows of.

"Let's mask up and open up," Collins said.

Member Courtenae Trautmann noted the district's schedule for reopening presented at the meeting indicated it would conduct "planning and implementation for increased (middle school) in-person attendance in March/April." She said the district should not wait until April to complete planning for the middle schools. Rather, she said, the middle schools should be included in the March 16 plan. And that plan should include a full reopening, she said.

"I say this assuming our positivity numbers will stay low, assuming we don't have outbreaks," she said.

The board's president, Kara Caforio, asked Superintendent Moyer whether a full reopening would come before the end of the school year.

Moyer responded the district would move toward a full reopening in the spring "if possible and certainly next year." He said the district monitors coronavirus rates and plans to meet with a panel of doctors March 8 to get advice.

Caforio said she respected that Moyer added caveats to his answer on a full reopening.

"But I think the community needs to see that this is where we want to head, and we will continue to head there, unless the numbers or metrics hold us back," she said.