East St. Louis teachers will return to school, but students will start year at home

Teachers in East St. Louis School District 189 will report to their classrooms again in the fall, but their students will still be at home.

Following a spike in coronavirus cases in the zip codes the district encompasses, Superintendent Arthur Culver said this week he would recommend the board open school for remote learning only, at least through the first nine weeks of the semester.

Friday, the six members present at the board of education meeting unanimously approved the recommendation.

“We don’t want (in-person learning) so bad that we’re going to put education over the health of our kids and our staff,” Culver said.

Most of the 11-page plan shared with the Belleville News-Democrat details what hybrid learning — which combines in-person instruction and remote, web-based lessons — would look like. Culver said that much of the summer was spent planning for a hybrid plan with the goal of keeping buildings at half capacity to encourage social distancing.

Remote learning is the first phase of the district’s “Return to Learn” plan. After the first nine-week quarter, the district will re-evaluate local case numbers to see if a hybrid plan would be safe.

Culver acknowledged the technology gap in the district — which includes 93.3% of its students who come from low-income families — poses puts a big wrinkle in its plan to stick with remote learning.

Chromebooks were issued to all students last spring, even before the coronavirus pandemic was declared. Households without internet connections, though, have been harder to address.

“We still have some challenges,” Culver said. “Primarily, they’re challenges we can’t directly control.”

The district purchased 1,000 WiFi hotspots, which can support multiple devices in the same household, but they’re very expensive, Culver said. The initial costs were $170,000 for the devices and the first three months of service. After the first three months, Culver estimated it would cost $50,000 a month to keep those devices active.

Connections with individual internet providers is spotty since some neighborhoods lack the infrastructure. Culver said the district was working with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to help fix that.

But Culver said during an interview last week that he puts the students’ safety first, noting COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on Black communities.

According to an analysis of Centers of Disease Control data by The New York Times, Black people are three times as likely nationwide to be infected by coronavirus. As of the 2010 census, East St. Louis was 97.7% Black.

According to the plan approved by the school board Friday, students will have five hours of remote learning from home, while staff will continue to work from their classrooms. Culver said that includes teachers and technology support staff.

All staff will have their temperature taken as they report to work.

The East St. Louis Federation of Teachers did not respond to a request for comment Friday afternoon.

Staff will be expected to wear a mask at all times, practice social distancing and self-monitor for signs and symptoms of COVID-19 while working in their buildings, the plan says.

“It is important to have staff onsite to facilitate the opportunity for teachers, administrators and support staff to collaborate with one another,” read an email sent from the district to staff, and shared with the News-Democrat. “This will also ensure that teachers have more access to instructional materials as well as better curriculum and technology resources and supports.”

While preschool students will receive paper packets and snacks that can be picked up weekly, Kindergarten through 12th-grade students will use Clever and Google Classroom, both online platforms for remote learning. Additional instructional materials may also be picked up.

Teachers start Aug. 12, and students will have their first day Aug. 17.

Families who wish to continue remote learning if the district moves to a hybrid schedule in the second quarter may do so if a medical verification is provided for the child or someone else living in the home, according to the districts plan.

Editor’s note: This article was updated July 27 at noon to reflect a change in the district’s remote learning plan for preschoolers.

This story was originally published July 24, 2020 at 7:01 PM.