Hundreds Of Empty Seats At Central And South

HINSDALE, IL — About 90 percent of Hinsdale High School District 86 parents indicated in a survey last summer they wanted at least some in-person learning for their students. But a far lower percentage of students are actually attending classes in person these days at Central and South high schools.

In mid-November, two-thirds of students at both Central and South chose in-person learning as opposed to fully remote. As of this week, less than half of students — 48 percent — were going onto Central's campus. South was at 55 percent. Now, students who choose in-person learning can attend two days a week.

At Tuesday's school board meeting, Assistant Superintendent Chris Covino said hundreds of seats are going empty each day at Central and South. That's because students are going back and forth between hybrid and remote, he said.

"A good portion of the students, even though they are in hybrid, are not coming to hybrid on a regular basis," he said.

To address this issue, Covino said, the district is asking families to choose between hybrid or remote for the rest of the year. They have until Wednesday to make a choice. Once a student chooses hybrid, that commitment lasts through the end of the semester. Those later choosing to move from hybrid to remote will be approved, but they cannot go back to hybrid again, Covino said.

"The notion is that we would like to fill every seat as safely as possible. That is not possible unless we have everyone who wants to come to school is coming to school as often as they can," Covino said. "We are holding a lot of empty seats for students who are choosing not to come to school."

Once the district knows students' choices, it will have the data to determine whether the schools have enough space to accommodate four days of in-person learning for students who go with that option, Covino said.

School board member Cynthia Hanson agreed with the change.

"There shouldn't be a flip back and forth," she said. "We're holding a seat for someone who is deciding to be home one day and deciding to come to school the next day. I think that's really frustrating."

Member Kathleen Hirsman said she struggled to square the strong interest in in-person education with the dwindling numbers of students actually going into the classroom.

"I appreciate what you're doing now and asking for a commitment, so we don't have empty seats," she said.

A similar trend has been seen at Lyons Township High School, which has campuses in La Grange and Western Springs. As of last week, 53 percent of students chose the in-person, two-day-a-week option. That's down from 75 percent in mid-October. That means nearly 800 fewer students at Lyons Township are attending in person than in the fall.