Dear District 99 Community:
I hope that your first days of school are going well, and that you are starting to make connections with one another within our virtual environment.
As you know, in response to new and more restrictive guidelines published by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), District 99 had to abandon plans to follow a hybrid schedule and instead open the school year yesterday with a remote schedule. Today we received additional guidance from the IDPH. Based on the complexity of these guidelines and metrics, we need time to study and determine how we can safely return to in-person learning. In addition, the Board of Education must review the new plan we create at its next meeting. As a result, we will continue with Remote Learning through at least Friday, September 18.
You have received--and will continue to receive--an abundance of information from your school principals and your teachers, so I will refrain from going into detail here. However, if you would like to read a detailed explanation of the new regulations from the health department, please visit our new status report page:
New this year--I will be hosting a monthly “Ask Us Anything” webinar. You are invited to join the webinar next Wednesday, August 26 at noon. We will share the link with you next week, and will record the session so you can watch it later if you are unable to attend.
Please know that we will continue our pursuit to create an environment where we can safely hold in-person learning in a hybrid model. In the meantime, we will focus on delivering the highest quality virtual experience as we can for every student.
Thank you,
Dr. Hank Thiele
District 99 Superintendent