Even with a Jan. 10 return to school, D186 board, administration attuned to COVID numbers

While Springfield School District 186 administration and board of education members continue to monitor local COVID-19 numbers in preparation for a return from winter break Jan. 10, at least one school board member would like to see student testing better addressed.

Other area schools return to classes this week while a longer break for District 186 was already scheduled. District offices reopen Tuesday and there is an in-service day for teachers Friday.

The school board meets Tuesday and will most likely hear from Superintendent Jennifer Gill plans for in-person return or alternate plans if a return is delayed.

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Subdistrict 2 school board representative Micah Miller suggested last week that a pause or delay at least be discussed in light of a then-single-day record number of COVID-19 cases reported by the Sangamon County Department of Public Health Tuesday and increased hospitalizations. A new single-day record number of reported cases was set again Thursday.

A letter from Gill to teachers pointed out the Illinois State Board of Education has a provision in the school code for an "adaptive pause," but "it is not something we as a school district or school board can independently decide or vote upon."

Buffy Lael-Wolf of Subdistrict 5 said she doesn't want to see the district go into an "adaptive pause," but does hope that student testing could ramp up.

The district's "Shield testing," a saliva-based test developed by the University of Illinois, is voluntary, Lael-Wolf pointed out.

"If parents determine that they don't want their child to be tested weekly at their school, then they don't test," she said. "The other component is that if a student goes to get testing done and then refuses--if the parent signs, but the kid refuses to do it--they're not going to test.

"We need as many people as we can to test so that we know if we have issues, we can deal with them swiftly and try to limit spread, if that's a possibility."

In cases where parents have consented to have their child tested and the child refuses, "I would really like the parents to have a conversation with their kid, so we can make that happen," Lael-Wolf added.

Chicago Public School leaders asked students to test for COVID-19 before returning from winter break and in some cases the district distributed test kits to students. Washington, D.C. public school students and staff members were required to show a negative COVID-19 test result before returning to school Wednesday.

Lael-Wolf, a clinical informaticist at Springfield-based Hospital Sisters Health System, acknowledged that the numbers of cases are up locally because more people have tested.

"It gives you a much better picture of contagion in your area," Lael-Wolf said, "and for us as a school district or at a school, it gives us a much better picture of, oh my goodness, that sixth grade classroom is a problem. We're either going to have to shut down that classroom or whatever choices we have available to us.

"We need to cast a bigger net (testing-wise), so we can catch as many fish as possible. We're seeing it play out. Our hospitalizations are going up and deaths are following. That's exactly how the whole thing goes."

Lael-Wolf is hoping people are more attuned to the gravity of the situation in light of a letter that was issued by the HSHS Health System, Memorial Health, Springfield Clinic and Southern Illinois University Medicine.

"I would say the community needs to pay attention to what the Big Four are saying," she said. "We've relied on HSHS, Memorial, Springfield Clinic and SIU Medicine for years. They're beloved entities in our community. There's no reason we shouldn't rely on them and believe them now."

As for Tuesday's discussion, Lael-Wolf said she anticipated Gill addressing a plan in case students can't return in-person Jan. 10. Students, she said, don't have their laptops at home, so the schools would have to figure out something.

"None of us want to do it, but there would be a lot of logistics we'd have to put into play," Lael-Wolf said. "Not impossible, but definitely hoops we would have to jump through. People would need hotspots. They would need their devices. We'd have to make sure how our bargaining units feel about that and how it works from their perspective."

Short of a disaster declaration by Gov. JB Pritzker or ISBE Superintendent Carmen Ayala, District 186 could delay a start to in-person learning if it was in consultation with the Sangamon County health department, Gill said in the letter.

"It is our intention to remain in-person to the greatest extent possible," Gill noted.

School board president Anthony Mares said one advantage for District 186 is that it doesn't return until Jan. 10.

"I'm sure (Superintendent Gill) and her administration are going to continue to monitor the information," Mares said. "She has a bird's eye view on what is happening in other districts (surrounding Springfield) because they're going to open up (sooner).

"Superintendent Ayala has reiterated that kids learn best by staying in school. (U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona), his recommendation, despite what's going on, is that children still need to be in school.

"The board, the administration and superintendent are charged with doing (in-person learning) as safely and as healthy as possible and I don't see how we're going to change that."

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: District 186 board meets Tuesday with an eye on surging COVID-19 numbers locally