Geneva 304 Moving To 5-Day In-Person Classes After Spring Break

GENEVA, IL — Geneva District 304 students are set to return to classrooms full-time next month, officials announced.

The district will restart five-day in-person learning April 5 — after spring break — for all students who registered for that option, officials said in a message to families. District 304 will continue to offer remote-only instruction for students who selected that option.

The district re-evaluated its hybrid learning schedule after the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education recently updated guidance for how schools can “safely transition back” to in-person learning amid the coronavirus pandemic, officials said.

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The new guidelines for in-person learning changed the state’s recommendations for social distancing in classrooms, allowing schools to operate if they can provide at least 3 feet of space between students and vaccinated staff, instead of 6 feet.

The guidelines recommend unvaccinated staff still keep 6 feet of distance between themselves and others to avoid potential infection. The IDPH also dropped its recommendation for schools to conduct COVID-19 symptom screenings on school property.

All schools must require universal use of protective gear, including face masks; enforce social distancing as much as possible; perform contact tracing; increase its cleaning and disinfecting efforts; and require handwashing and “respiratory etiquette,” according to the new guidelines.

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District 304 officials said they provide more details over the coming week about the transition to five-day in-person learning.

Parents in the district held several protests against officials’ previous decision to have all students learn remotely every Friday for the rest of the school year.

Geneva District 304 started the 2020-21 school year with a hybrid learning plan that split students into two groups, with each spending two or three days in classrooms each week. Since the end of October, students have been in classrooms no more than two days per week.

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The District 304 board then voted Jan. 11 to only offer remote learning each Friday through the end of May, meaning students were set to spend less than 50 percent of the remaining school days in classrooms.

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