Antioch School District 34 Board of Education Met Jan. 12.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
A Special Meeting of the Board of Education of Antioch School District 34 was held virtually via Zoom and in-person at the Hillcrest Elementary School, 433 Depot Street, Antioch, Illinois, in said District. Vice-President Linck called the meeting to order at 6:36 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Roll call showed those present were: Members P. Green, McMahon, C. Green, Baronello, Penn, Vice- President Linck. Absent: President Hulting.
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
Member Baronello moved and Member Penn seconded the motion to approve the agenda, as presented.
Roll call vote: Baronello, C. Green, Linck, McMahon, P. Green, Penn – Aye. Nays – None. Motion carried.
PRESENTATION
Hybrid Learning Plan
Dr. Hubbard presented information on the Hybrid Learning Plan. This information can be viewed on the District website under 2021 January – Hybrid Learning Plan.
President Hulting arrived at 6:49 p.m.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Randall Sanabria addressed the board with three questions. What happens when a student does not comply with facemasks or social distancing? He would like to understand what the threshold for going back into full remote is. For Antioch Upper Grade School students, are they going to be required to change their clothing for PE?
Sara Gillette addressed the board as a parent in favor of Math in the afternoon in the remote learning setting. She wants her son’s math class to pace what his level is. Her concern is the Remote Learning students overall. All students will be in a state of transition but remote student are a focus only on Wednesday’s. This is not a solution. She would like remote students to have dedicated teachers. That is the only way to ensure remote students continue to get what they need. A microphone is not a plan and it does not give those students a sense of belonging. Thank you for the consideration of keeping specials remote only. These are saving graces for all students.
Michael Keppen addressed the board regarding the 70% in-person students. He asked if the teachers were surveyed regarding their preference of Hybrid, in-person, or full Remote? He stated that he sent an email to Dr. Hubbard and he will wait for a response to other questions via email.
Patricia Smith addressed the board as a Social Worker at the Early Learning Center (ELC) and thanked Administration for the work done on the presentation. She is concerned about the rollout of this plan. ELC is a high-risk group for bringing kids back to school. It is difficult to bring kids back with the recommendations in place. Keeping 6’ of distance with Pre-k students is not practical. These students need help with washing hands, diapers need to be changed, and runny noses need to be wiped. There will be classes all day and staff will be in close contact the whole day. She goes into several classrooms in any given school day. Four out of five students do not wear masks and only one of the five will have a doctor note. We all want to get back into in-person learning but want to do so safely. Please pause until all numbers are safe.
Dr. Walshire addressed the board as a first grade teacher at W.C. Petty. She thanked the board for welcoming staff with questions and comments. She asked, if a teacher becomes ill, who will cover the class and will the class become fully remote? Does the teacher need to use sick time or is there another bank of time that can be used?
Lucia Johnson addressed the board is regards to staff safety and options for staff. Students have the option to be fully remote but staff do not. The staff has not been surveyed recently. Staff are scared. With us being so close to getting a vaccine, why are we returning to in-person now? We need more data before we move forward. Why not wait two more weeks? Why not wait until vaccines are available for staff? Staff will not be able to get up and move around in this hybrid setting. She is concerned that remote students may be “left behind” in a hybrid setting. Dual teaching is not an easy thing... teachers CAN do this but is this what is best for teacher safety? We are so close to the finish line. Even waiting one week until it is a full week of attendance would be better.
Steven TeRonde addressed the board with comments surrounding facts vs. feelings. It is far worse than the recession right now. Parents cannot afford childcare or their homes. Domestic violence is up. We need kids back in school full time. COVID does not affect children. He knows senior citizens who have had COVID and recovered fine. He wants kids back in school.
Kyle Owens addressed the board regarding Math in the afternoon for elementary students. He urges those K-2 students to have math in the buildings to learn those concepts. He feels like this would not be as large a hurdle as other grade levels.
Michelle Ammon had a question about 6th grade transition for in-person students. Will remote students have the opportunity for this when they return?
Lauren Turner has an 8th grade student at AUGS and wanted to ask if there is a cleaning protocol for between classes?
Lisa Alexander is a paraprofessional at Oakland. She is scared. She has been saying over and over how grateful she is that she has an employer who is concerned about her safety. Her job is to support students with extra help in the classroom. She is less than 6’ away from those students. She cannot do the things she does when 6’ away from a student. She cannot fathom helping students safely in a hybrid plan.
Nicolino DiBenedetto wanted to mention to the board that they have students at Hillcrest, one of whom has medical concerns. They are keeping their students remote because of that. He asked the board to consider families like them. Make sure education works for ALL students. We do not want remote students to backslide or suffer in any way. Their son loves being able to see his classmates too. He loves the current schedule and they do not want that to suffer either.
Stacey Dohrmann wanted to voice her opinion as a fellow educator. She was terrified to go back until they started. She is very comfortable going in and feels the district will do a great job with the hybrid schedule.
Jason Garcia is a paraprofessional at ELC and wanted to voice his opinion/concern. The class he is in is a very needy class that is very hands on. He is right beside those students. With the numbers as they are, it is scary. He understands what is being said but the ELC students do not understand social distancing and mask wearing. When some students were in-person in October, it was a challenge. We are constantly breaking protocols of social distancing with these students.
Julie Higginbotham addressed the board as a teacher at Oakland. She is experiencing high anxiety despite her understanding of the work district is putting into the plan. She was talking to her class today and found out they have anxiety also. They are concerned about still being able to be a part of the class. Some of the things they are concerned about have not been addressed. She does not feel she has not been given a choice. There is lacking information coming to staff and she wishes more training being provided. She said that staff are doing a great job with students in a remote environment. A return to in-person is very overwhelming.
Steven TeRonde wanted to speak to the anxiety he was hearing. He is a pilot traveling all over the country. COVID really is not a significant issue if you follow the hygiene protocols. At his company, the positivity cases are very low and he works with a major airline. He does not feel the threat is that high.
Kimberly Stone needed to jump in as someone who was diagnosed positive with COVID in December. Her family with her daughter’s boyfriend’s family got COVID. They followed all of the hygiene protocols and they still ended up getting COVID. They are still in recovery mode. It is great for those that have quick recovery or have not gotten the virus at all. Thankfully, none of them had to be hospitalized. Only one had a fever but the virus puts you on your back for a few days at the onset. She wants people to realize the fear is real. Her biggest question is why are we not waiting until the beginning of the 3rdtrimester? That is a logical starting point/transition time. We have four weeks until the 3rd trimester. She thanked everyone for their time and appreciates all of the work administration have put into this plan. She reiterated that if we wait until the 3rd trimester, we would have more time for positivity cases to go down.
Michael Keppen readdressed the board to reinforce other comments that were made. In his role as deputy commander, the entire eastern half of the United Stated is processed through his department. With all of the mitigation strategies in place, this will minimize infection. He is a commander in the Navy. He implores us to open school up and get kids back in the buildings.
Sarah Kennedy has a first grader at W.C. Petty and she is curious what the rush is to return to in-person learning. As a parent, she feels we are getting information last minute. Can we delay for maybe a week to make sure we are as ready as we can be? We are confused about the schedules and the teachers do not seem ready either.
ACTION ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION
Hybrid Learning Plan
Member Baronello moved and Member Linck seconded the motion to approve the Hybrid Learning Plan, as presented.
Roll call vote: Linck, McMahon, C. Green, Baronello, P. Green, Hulting – Aye. Nay – Penn. Motion carried.
CLOSED SESSION
Member Linck moved and Member Baronello seconded the motion to enter closed session at 9:39 p.m. per The Open Meetings Act to consider the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific individuals who serve as independent contractors in a park, recreational, or educational setting, or specific volunteers of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee, a specific individual who serves as an independent contractor in a park, recreational, or educational setting, or a volunteer of the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity. However, a meeting to consider an increase in compensation to a specific employee of a public body that is subject to the Local Government Wage Increase Transparency Act may not be closed and shall be open to the public and posted and held in accordance with this Act. 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1); and Security procedures, school building safety and security, and the use of personnel and equipment to respond to an actual, a threatened, or a reasonably potential danger to the safety of employees, students, staff, the public, or public property. 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(8).
Roll call vote: C. Green, McMahon, P. Green, Linck, Penn, Baronello, Hulting – Aye. Nays – none. Motion carried.
RECONVENE TO OPEN SESSION
The Board reconvened to open session at 10:30 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Roll call showed those present were: Members C. Green, Baronello, Penn, P. Green, Linck, Hulting. Absent: McMahon.
Member McMahon arrived at 10:32 p.m.
INFORMATION ITEMS
Future Agenda Items and Meeting SummaryFuture Agenda Items Requested:
Summer School
ADJOURNMENT
Member Linck moved and Member Baronello seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:34 p.m.
Roll call vote: C. Green, Linck, Penn, Baronello, P. Green, McMahon, Hulting – Aye. Nay – None. Motion carried.
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