Planning Underway for Reactivation of Libertyville High School

Dear Neighbor:

I hope that this finds you well and getting ready to enjoy what looks to be a beautiful summer weekend. I’m writing regarding important decisions that are being made that will shape the education offered to Libertyville High School (LHS) students in the upcoming school year. A reactivation Task Force comprised largely of D 128 administrators is meeting to produce recommendations for the 2020-2021 school year that will be proposed in July to the D128 School Board and eventually to the Teachers’ Union. This will encompass e- learning curriculum as well as proposals concerning in-person attendance. The next D128 School Board meeting is Monday, June 22 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. If interested in this issue and if you would like to have input, I would strongly encourage you to write the D128 school board outlining your concerns and plan to virtually attend the upcoming Board meeting. Email board comments – no longer than 3 minutes - to the D128 Communications Director – mary.todoric@d128.orgby 4:00 pm on June 22. D128 Superintendent Prentiss Lea will read your comments during the meeting. School begins in approximately 10 weeks – there is much to be done to enable students to return to in-person instruction, if at all possible. Some local school districts have already announced that learning for the beginning of the upcoming school year will be exclusively virtual. Please contact me if you feel strongly about this issue and would like to have a voice in D128 decision making.. Following are excerpts from a letter that I recently sent to our D 128 Superintendent, Board of Education and LHS Principal outlining my concerns:

I’m writing to follow up on this semester’s e-learning experience as well as the LHS town hall meeting.

I have been a proud Libertyville High School (LHS) parent for nearly ten years. As you may know, two of my children are LHS graduates, and my youngest will be a senior in the fall. In my experience, until recently, LHS has been second to none in terms of education and preparation for higher learning. My students were both well prepared for college, and they not only received an excellent education but had the opportunity to participate in the many programs and activities that supported both school and community. I cannot say enough about the warm environment of LHS, the commitment of staff to the students, the sense of tradition and pride and, most importantly, the academic rigor.

It is for the above-mentioned reasons that I am particularly distressed about where things stand at present. While none of us anticipated a pandemic, we are, nonetheless, in the midst of this crisis and have no choice but to move forward. It has, indeed, been a time of stress and uncertainty on many levels – for both parents and students alike. Having said that, I believe that is the responsibility of parents to monitor and support their student’s emotional well-being and to ensure that students learn to be caring and committed members of their community. It is the responsibility of the public school system to educate our students and to prepare them academically for the future.

For the past few years, I have seen the LHS focus shift away from academic rigor toward greater focus on the emotional well-being of students and social concerns. As the mother of three, I wholeheartedly agree that children experience and handle life stresses in different ways, but there is no escaping the fact that life is inevitably filled with unexpected difficulties, stress and demands. Learning to navigate those experiences is part of the process of becoming an adult and, once again, the role of the parent to support and shape necessary coping skills.

I was astounded at the e-learning offered to students this spring. With today’s technology that easily lends itself to virtual meetings in business and on-line classes for college students, I cannot understand why our LHS students were required to largely “self-teach” with minimal direct interaction with faculty. This was particularly troubling when an extra week of instruction was lost as teachers “prepared” for e-learning and teachers were given an additional day every Wednesday to “prepare” for their e-learning instruction.

In addition, I cannot understand why teachers were instructed to eliminate any “new instruction” after e-learning began. This was covered extensively during the recent town hall, and it was suggested that students were experiencing too much stress and emotional duress to be able to handle new material. I fully understand that there are families dealing with illness and economic hardship as a result of the pandemic, and they have my heartfelt sympathy and efforts to help connected with my church and other community organizations that my family supports. I work in healthcare, and I am fully aware of the many serious implications of COVID-19. However, we cannot let our students fall behind in their education or receive substandard instruction.

I asked a question during the town hall that was never answered – how are students supposed to make up for seven weeks of lost new material? Mention was made of those new lessons being “made up” in the fall. How can that possibly occur given the academic rigor of LHS and the curriculum that must be covered in the coming school year. I doubt that colleges are going to take into account the missing instruction when expecting that incoming students have mastered prerequisite courses. Judging from the e-learning that my college sophomore participated in this semester, courses continued and curriculum expectations were not altered. I would fully expect that to be the case at institutions of higher learning going forward.

A task force to discuss and plan for learning in the fall was mentioned during the town hall, and I specifically asked if parents would be included in some capacity. I was told that there would be an opportunity for parental input. I am in recent receipt of Dr. Lea’s email discussing the work of the Core Team and the Task Force.

I would very much like to become involved in this process, and I ask for your consideration for parental input on your Task Force. I bring the perspective of a long-standing LHS parent, a medical professional and an active member of the larger LHS community. The safety of students and faculty must be the priority, but there is little suggestion that this virus will be eliminated in the near future. We must move forward with a plan that will allow our students to accommodate the “new normal” requirements and to continue to receive the highest quality education possible.

You frequently mention the book Gritby Angela Duckworth. I, too, have read the book and found it captivating. She states, “if you are a leader, and you want the people in your organization to be grittier, create a gritty culture.” I would suggest that the circumstances surrounding this pandemic are an opportunity for us all to become grittier, and I believe LHS can take the lead in providing the education that will give our students what they will need to succeed in what are likely to be challenging years ahead.

Sincerely,

Lori Recker