East St. Louis parents hold another protest to demand a remote learning option
A small group of parents and residents in East St. Louis and surrounding areas gathered Monday to demand a remote learning option for children attending East St. Louis School District 189.
The protest by Parents and Guardians United of East St. Louis School District 189 was held outside of the district’s administration building.
“Parents and students saw this omicron surge coming and questioned why the local school board has made the decision to return to in-person learning only with no remote learning option for our parents who desire to have remote learning options to help protect our children,” said Larita Rice-Barnes, a leader of the parent group.
Monday’s protest was the second time the group has called for remote learning.
Parents and Guardians United for East St. Louis formed last year and held a protest last fall to urge the district to provide a remote learning option, among other issues. Last week, the group hosted a virtual press conference in which they expressed similar demands.
Monday was students’ return to in-person learning after the district implemented an adaptive pause for Jan 4-28. An adaptive pause is a pivot to remote learning that schools can employ to ensure the safety of students and staff. Although Rice-Barnes said she was happy about the adaptive pause, she said there’s more to be done.
“Back in September, we were advocating for remote learning options as well as (an) adaptive pause,” Rice-Barnes said. “After the holidays, the district did institute an adaptive pause. That was one of our demands. However, they did make the decision to go back and still not having a comprehensive plan for families, so we’re still demanding remote learning options for our families and virtual tutoring options.”
‘Why aren’t we being heard?’
Juanita Brooks was among the parents who spoke during Monday’s protest. She said her son attends East St. Louis Senior High School and contracted COVID-19 in November. She said her son was very active prior to getting COVID-19 and said his chronic chest pains prevent him from playing for the school’s basketball team. Brooks said her son played the sport throughout middle school.
Brooks and her mom also contracted COVID-19 at that time and said they still experience extreme fatigue and brain fog. She wants more options for families like hers who’ve experienced long-term conditions after contracting COVID-19.
“I’m disgusted that we as parents don’t have the right to decide if we want our children in public settings, such as school, during a worldwide pandemic,” Brooks said. “This district isn’t taking us seriously I believe because we are in a high-poverty area. If other races are able to protest, go to board meetings and sue school districts because they believe their children should be able to go to school unmasked around others, then why aren’t we being heard and taken seriously about the things we want for our children?”
The school district works closely with East Side Health District, which serves East St. Louis, Canteen, Centreville, and Stites townships, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in schools, according to a statement. Sydney Stigge-Kaufman, the district’s communications director, cited an application for medical exemption from in-person learning that families can use due to a student or household member being high risk for severe illness after contracting COVID-19.
“School District 189 continues extensive monitoring of COVID-19 data in our serving ZIP codes and consultation with East Side Health District as we prioritize the health and safety of our students and staff,” Stigge-Kaufman said in an email. “School District 189 has a number of mitigation strategies in place to provide a safe learning environment. For students, this includes participation in weekly Shield COVID testing and, if applicable, the Test To Stay program. Additionally, all classrooms have a Fellowes HEPA and Carbon Air Purifier or bigger model.”
The district also maintains a COVID-19 dashboard that tracks the number of positive cases and quarantined students and staff. The dashboard currently reports that one student and two staff members have tested positive. The numbers are cumulative for the period from Jan. 24-28, when the school was on an adaptive pause. The last report, which was cumulative for the period from Nov. 6 to Nov. 11, showed that 12 students and one staff member tested positive for COVID-19.
As of Monday, there are no outbreaks for schools in St. Clair County, according to recent data from the Illinois Department of Public Health. There are 136 active youth outbreaks, including sports, classrooms, camps and non-sports activities, in the state.
From Jan 20 to Jan. 26, the county experienced a COVID-19 weekly positivity rate of 20.9%, a rate that’s alarming for Parents and Guardians United of East St. Louis School District 189.
“We don’t feel safe,” Rice-Barnes said. “We need options and answers. Many of the parents and guardians are at high-risk for COVID-19. Some of our families have recently tested positive.”
In May, the Illinois State Board of Education approved a resolution requiring in-person student attendance for the fall semester. Schools are only required to offer remote learning for students who are both ineligible for the vaccine and are under a quarantine order. The Illinois School Code has other limited provisions, such as for home or hospital-bound students, that would require schools to provide additional learning formats. In September, the state board approved an updated resolution that removes language about vaccine eligibility and requires remote instruction during adaptive pauses.
No changes have been made to that guidance for the current school year, according to Jackie Matthews, communications director for the Illinois State Board of Education.
“School districts are required to provide fully in-person instruction with the exception of a few extremely limited circumstances,” Matthews said in an email following the parent group’s first protest. “Whether the school district chooses to expand remote learning to additional individual students using the flexibility permitted in state law is entirely up to the school district’s discretion.”
Rice-Barnes said the decision for remote learning being based upon guidance from the health department and both the state and local school board often complicates getting her group’s message heard.
“The school board was saying we report to the health district, the health district said it’s up to the school and then the state said it’s up to the local school board,” Rice-Barnes said. “The shifting of the blame it still happening and there’s not a comprehensive plan.”
This story was originally published January 31, 2022 at 6:30 PM.
