August 18, 2020
Subject: Updated 2020-2021 Learning Plan
Good afternoon HBR Parents and Students,
The third version of our 2020-2021 Learning Plan is being released after receiving additional guidance from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) through a frequently asked questions document on August 12th. We also sought some clarification from the DeKalb County Health Department to ensure that we were interpreting the FAQ document correctly. You can view IDPH's FAQ document by visiting https://www.isbe.net/Documents/IDPH-School-FAQs.pdf.
As we did with the last version release, we are providing the highlights of the changes in our document:
- The initial Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE)and IDPH joint guidance released on June 23rd stated that exclusion from school occurred with a temperature greater than 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit. The latest FAQ document by IDPH clearly states that exclusion from school should occur with a temperature of greater than or equal to 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit. We have made the needed changes in our 2020-2021 Learning Plan to reflect the most recent communication by IDPH.
- The definition of close contact was further clarified by IDPH. The definition of close contact throughout our 2020-2021 Learning Plan has been updated; close contact means that an individual was within 6 feet of a symptomatic person for at least 15 minutes throughout the course of a day.
- We updated our exclusion chart found on page 10 of our 2020-2021 Learning Plan by embedding the need to be fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications as a requirement for students to return to in-person learning.
- We added information below the exclusion chart utilizing IDPH's guidance for returning to school for the illness in which a student has been diagnosed. This provides information on how a student can return to in-person instruction in less than 14 days if they exhibit any of the COVID-19 symptoms.
The updated 2020-2021 Learning Plan can be found by visiting https://5il.co/idyq while a condensed version containing major overarching information can be found by visiting https://5il.co/idyr. If you have already read the 2nd version released on July 31st, we ask that you read and review the updated sections as noted earlier in this email. If you have not read our plan yet, we encourage you to do so. We also ask that you read and review the Illinois State Board of Education’s Starting the 2020-21 School Year: Part 3 - Transition Joint Guidance as our 2020-2021 Learning Plan adheres to ISBE’s joint guidance with the Illinois Department of Public Health contained in that document.
After reading and reviewing our updated plan, if you have any questions about our plan, you are encouraged to start by contacting the appropriate personnel as described below:
Questions related to schools
Hinckley-Big Rock Elementary School - Julie Melnyk - jmelnyk@hbr429.org or (815) 286-3400 Hinckley-Big Rock Middle School - Jeff Strouss - jstrouss@hbr429.org or (630) 556-4190 Hinckley-Big Rock High School - Jay Brickman - jbrickman@hbr429.org or (815) 286-7501
Questions related to student services district-wide
Student Services Department - Jessica Sonntag - jsonntag@hbr429.org or (815) 286-7578
Questions related to our overall plan and requirements as set forth by the Illinois State Board of Education and the Illinois Department of Public Health
Superintendent - Travis McGuire - tmcguire@hbr429.org or (815) 286-7578
We have had busy and very productive days at HBR these last 4 work days in preparation for our first day with students tomorrow, August 19th. We are looking forward to tomorrow with great anticipation and can’t wait to get the 2020-2021 school year underway!
#TogetherWeGotThis
Sincerely,
Travis L. McGuire Superintendent