La Grange Highlands Parents Demand More In-Person Learning

LA GRANGE, IL — An online petition is demanding that La Grange Highlands School District 106 be fully open for in-person education by Feb. 1.

But the school board, which has been making decisions on in-person learning, is not scheduled to meet again until mid-February.

The petition includes a number of arguments on why the schools should reopen. Asked for a reaction, interim Superintendent Steve Griesbach said the board is aware of the variety of opinions about how to handle in-person learning during the pandemic.

"We are entrusted with the responsibility of balancing the interests of all members of the community to address the needs of our learners and protecting the health and safety of both our students and the staff who serve them," Griesbach said.

The petition states all students should be back in school five days a week for full days. Now, all students have four-hour days. Middle school students are in class five days a week, while elementary school students alternate between two- and three-day weeks of in-person instruction. The rest of the time, students are learning remotely.

Resident Justin Cox, who has two children in the schools, started the Change.org petition. As of Thursday morning, more than 350 people have signed it.

In an interview, Cox said school officials see the state's guidelines as absolute mandates.

"They won't get creative at all to do anything different," he said.

In his petition, Cox said the three weeks of five days of learning last semester did not result in any outbreaks. And he said other schools in La Grange Highlands' ZIP code have brought their students in for five full days of learning without any major outbreaks.

The petition said of the 19 staff members who have tested positive for the coronavirus, not a single one contracted it on school grounds.

The petition said the district has sufficient personal protective equipment and plexiglass. And it said the 6 feet of space between children is a guideline, not a requirement.

"Our children are falling behind," the petition said. "This is not opinion, it is data driven. This statement is supported by the trending of our district's (Measures of Academic Progress) scores, by the fact that our 10 ratings have been downgraded for both our middle school and elementary school. The downgrading of that score indicates that the current platform of learning does not provide the educational experience, the levels of rigor and support, that Highlands is capable of providing."

The debate over in-person learning has apparently gotten heated. At a board meeting in October, board President John Corcoran decried "personal attacks," which he said do not promote "productive, back-and-forth, value-added discussion."

Griesbach replaced Amy Warke, who left the top job recently after serving since July 2019. It was her first superintendent's job.

Patch has filed a public records request for more information on Warke's departure. It is unusual for a superintendent to leave in the middle of a school year.