Important Note: Please sign this petition only if you are a parent of a Kaneland student / Kaneland School District resident.

February 15, 2021

Kaneland School District Board of Directors:

This petition is signed on behalf of Kaneland School District residents and parents, who request the Kaneland Board of Education (“the Board”), uphold the Board Member Oath and Conduct, which each member stated upon joining the Kaneland School Board of Education. Specifically, we are requesting that each Board Member apply their Oath, as referenced below, to the planning and implementation of a full-time in-person school model. Further, as Superintendent Dr. Todd Leden, reports to the Board, we ask that the Board hold Dr. Todd Leden accountable for the timely development of the full-time/ in person school model and provide transparency to the community. We view this request as important and time-sensitive.

This petition is long, and is based on findings from conversations with Kaneland administration along with extensive research from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH).

To make the petition simple to understand at a glance, we have included bullet points of why the petition was created, a summary of the petition, and what the petition is not. Additional detail on each bullet below is described in further in the full petition.

Why Petition?

·       Preliminary results from the January school survey show that roughly 80% of parents want to return to in-person full-time schooling for their children

·       Children are being negatively impacted, academically, emotionally, and mentally, by the isolation and lack of education in the A/B model.

·       There is no plan in place for a full-time in-person return to school for the Kaneland School District during Phase 4, this has been confirmed by the School District administration.

·       There is no dedicated administration committee for the problem solving necessary to find solutions to return our kids to school in-person full time.

·       Community members have been emailing their concerns of the A/B model to the district administration and Board of Education and no action has been taken.

·       The Board of Education has not kept administration accountable- and even deferred voting on the August 2020 return to school plan. One member stated that they were “not experts” and didn’t want people to think “the board has more power than it does.” This has led to no accountability on the Kaneland administration over the past 8 months.  

Petition Summary:

·       We request the Kaneland School Board of Education to hold Kaneland administration, specifically Dr. Todd Leden and his staff, accountable in the development of a full-time/ in-person school model with an effective date of April 5, 2021.  This gives our District six weeks to develop a plan and allow our students to end the school year in-person, full-time.

·      Create a dedicated committee with the common goal of developing the full-time/ in-person school.

·       Allow parents to attend the Kaneland School Board meeting in-person on February 22, 2021 at 7pm (meetings are still virtual with no parent presence even though the state of Illinois provides guidance approving gatherings of 50 or more).

·       This petition is a positive “call-to-action” with suggestions for change and next steps.

What this Petition is not:

·       This petition does not in any way state or suggest that Kaneland teachers are not doing their best and do not care about our children. In fact, we have heard that many teachers prefer to go back full-time to support their students, and they recognize that teachers are “essential.”

·       This petition does not suggest that kids with medical needs should return to school in-person full-time. There should be a remote option for that population. Likewise, teachers with medical needs could be the remote teachers.

·       This petition is not calling for any Board members or Administrators to resign or be removed from office.

FULL PETITION:

We have outlined our concerns and comments following the framework of the Board Member Oath and Conduct, section 2:80. We find it best to use this framework, to provide context as to what the Board is responsible for, and therefore we are outlining our data and requests with a direct link to the Board’s responsibility.

As stated below in section 2:80, each Board member took an oath to:

“….foster with the Board extensive participation of the community, formulate goals, define outcomes, and set the course for Kaneland School District 302; I shall assist in establishing a structure and an environment designed to ensure all students have the opportunity to attain their maximum potential through a sound organizational framework.”

1.  Establishing a structure and an environment designed to ensure all students have the opportunity to attain their Maximum potential through a sound organizational framework

When COVID19 hit, it was an unprecedented and uncertain time for us all; the Board, administration, students, parents, and the entire community. When we needed the Board input and decisiveness most, the Board majority (5 of 7), opted to defer voting on the return to school A/B model, and instead a Board member stated that you were “not experts” and wanted to defer decisions to the administration, further stating that “they didn’t want people to think the Board has more power than it does.” The concern with this action and the statements made, is that Dr. Todd Leden, and the school administration, report to the Board. Therefore, there has been a lack of accountability to develop a return to school full-time model. Our concerns and related facts supporting our request for a full-time/ in-person school plan are outlined below.

Emotional / Mental Impact 

o    Many Kaneland parents have stated that their kids are experiencing emotional and mental distress from the pandemic including less interaction with friends, stress of self-learning at-home, and the lack of social interaction.

o    Recent news reports have indicated a surge in child and teenage suicides- our children are experiencing a mental health crisis.

o    The percent of our emergency department visits for mental health conditions has doubled since the onset of the pandemic Sr. Jennifer Hoffman, Pediatric Emergency Medicine Physician at Lurie Children’s Hospital

Academic Impact

o    All schools should aim to have students attend school in person, which is how they learn best (Healthychildren.org)

o    Kaneland parents have indicated that their children are struggling to keep up with their school work with the A/B model and they are falling behind academically

o    ISBE’s Phase 4 Return Plan and IDPH both allowed and encouraged schools to provide intensive time back in buildings

o    Kaneland’s current A/B model is failing our children and Illinois guidance for Phase 4 education in the following ways:

§  Time in the building or time with staff with direct instruction is 50% less

§  There is no staff contact or opportunities to engage with teachers on Remote learning days

§  The A/B schedule was the least recommended ISBE schedule due to a) lack of consistent instruction and b) it increases the risk of COVID transmission due to the likelihood children will have to engage with more adults in the community when they are not in school.  

§  ISBE has provided guidance for reopening schools. “ISBE strongly encourages in-person instruction for students to the greatest extent possible while keeping health and safety as the number one priority”. 

§  ISBE in conjunction with the IDPH stated that an A/B model more than likely will increase the risk of COVID infection due to childcare arrangements required for families.  From ISBE: When crafting student schedules, it is important to keep child care needs of your community in mind. It is estimated that 700,000 school age children (ages 6-12) in Illinois reside in households where all parents work and likely require some form of out-of-school child care. When children aged 0-6 are included, an estimated 1-1.2 million parents rely on child care to return to work. Blended remote learning will likely increase the rate of infection and the demand for center based and non-relative care, increasing the number of different people that children are in contact with each week and, thereby, their probability of exposure to the virus.

o    The Kaneland Plan is not what is best for our children's educations given the stressful circumstances of COVID, it decreases academic engagement by 50% for students, it does not provide any staff contact on remote days and it places stress on families who have to work, potentially increasing the number of adults and other children that our students will come in close contact with during a week.  This is not in line with how ISBE wants our children educated during this pandemic.  

Requested Action:

Please consider the negative impact of students not having a full-time in-person school model, and consider how our students can have the opportunity to attain their maximum potential through a sound organizational framework. Our students need the administration to recognize that this is the most important topic and we ask that this be treated with a sense of urgency.

2. Formulate Goals & Define Outcomes –

We are approaching nearly a year since the onset of COVID-19 that occurred in March 2020; yet we have no formal outline or plan on the topic of returning to full-time in-person school. The topic of returning to full-time in-person, was not even on the February 8, 2021 Board meeting agenda. The CDC, ISBE, and IDPH all have guidelines to return children to school full-time and in-person, that we can achieve.

Requested Action:

·       Be transparent regarding the obstacles that Kaneland faces in returning to in-person full-time school. To date, there is no formal documentation on this topic since July 2020- either at the Board level or shared with the community to understand. We suggest the Board asks Dr. Leden for specific documentation on what each obstacle is and options to overcome each obstacle. We ask the Board to request that this outline be presented during the March 8, 2021 Board meeting.

·       Develop a District committee to oversee the development of the in-person full-time plan. Include administration, teachers, parents, the Board, local leaders- anyone that is qualified and can “think outside of the box” to get our kids to school full-time.

EXAMPLE OF ADDRESSSING OBSTACLES & “THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX”

o    On the February 8, 2021 Board of Education meeting, Dr. Leden stated that maintaining six feet social distancing for every student was the primary issue that prevented children from returning to school in-person full-time.

o    It is important to consider that the recommendations for schools to return to school full-time are recommendations, not mandated laws. We can find ways to return kids to school full-time in-person safely.

For example, while the CDC recommends maintain 6-feet social distancing:

o    The IDPH states that maintaining a distance of at least 6 feet from other adults, and from students when feasible.

o    The goal for students and adults is to stay at least 6 feet apart. However, spacing desks at least 3 feet apart and avoiding close contact may have similar benefits for younger students--especially when they wear masks or cloth face coverings and do not have COVID-19 symptoms (Healthychildren.org)

o    If Kaneland schools cannot accommodate 6-feet social distancing for each student, consider “pod” arrangements where four students sit together, 6-feet away from the other pods. In this instance, if quarantine is necessary, only the pod of students is impacted.

·       Formulate goals- We suggest the Board request a full-time in-person plan to be presented to the community during the month of March, with the goal of students returning to school full-time in-person on April 5, 2021. This timeline is appropriate, giving a full 6 weeks from the date of the February 22 Board meeting to implement the plan. It would be a win for our community to have our students back in school before Summer. It would be a win for Kaneland to avoid another Senior class missing their end of High School year as a full class.

3. Participation of the community - Currently, the Board is still conducting Board meetings by way of a virtual zoom meeting, with no live public presence. This practice is still occurring, even though Phase 4 of the State of Illinois COVID-19 plan became effective Wednesday, February 3. Under phase 4, “group gatherings of up to 50 people are allowed.” There is no reason why: (a) the February 8th Board meeting was not open to the public and (b) the Board opted to continue with virtual meetings for the February 22nd meeting.

Requested Action: We request in-person community attendance at the February 22, 2021 Board meeting. In case more than than 50 residents of Kaneland want to attend, we request more than one available room, with the zoom meeting broadcasted live. The only allowable time that parents can voice a concern, is during the allotted 30 minutes of Public Comments. Rather than allowing parents to read their comments live during the current model of a zoom meeting, Dr. Leden has been reading emails from parents. There is no emotion, there are no parent faces, there is no actual “participation of the community.” We request a Kaneland school to be made available so parents can attend in person.

We appreciate the Board’s consideration in these requests, and consider the involvement and partnership amongst the Board, School Administration and Community, to the utmost importance. Our kids need you to take action in ensuring a return to school in-person full-time by April 5, 2021.

Please formally respond to these requests and each action item, during the February 22, 2021 Board meeting.

Signed on behalf of Kaneland Go Forward- Parents United-  co-sponsored by Kim Harner & Tonia Groezinger