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H-F teachers voice concerns over reopening plans

As the District 233 school board nears a decision on whether to open Homewood-Flossmoor High School for classes this fall, several teachers are raising concerns about student and staff safety.

The board will meet remotely as a Committee of the Whole at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 14, to decide a plan for the 2020-21 school year.

“If on March 13 we had to close the schools because it wasn’t safe and nothing has changed or gotten any better, how are we saying in August we’re going to open up?” asks Scott Aronson, a social studies teacher. “That doesn’t make any sense to me. The virus is literally out of control.”

Teacher J.R. Willard-Rose agrees. He points out that in March, COVID numbers were 5,000 new cases a day. Most recent national numbers show 60,000 new cases a day.

“How are we even talking about reopening?” he wonders. He strongly supports remote learning. “I do not believe anyone should be going into the building.” 

H-F administrators, faculty members and staff have been meeting for weeks devising three plans: 1) Return to school on a full-time basis; 2) Return to school on a limited basis with students rotating attendance days supplemented with remote learning; or 3) Remote learning.

Aronson argues that even with the plan that splits the 2,800 H-F student population into two groups for attendance there still is no guarantee that the COVID-19 virus won’t spread. He believes it will be difficult to enable students to meet the 6-feet social distancing protocol.

“I sure as heck would just be distraught if somehow I brought about bringing COVID to one of my students. I just don’t know how I’d live with myself,” he said.

Aronson has been on staff for 17 years. His classroom is in the North Building on the H-F campus in Flossmoor. He can’t open his classroom windows for fresh air. He says he is one of the H-F teachers with a health condition, so remote learning is best for him.

“I’m anxious. I’m panicked. I just don’t know how we’re going to keep the kids safe. I worry that there are going to be COVID cases, which means there’s going to be entire classrooms quarantined for 14 days. If you’re the teacher and you teach five classes and you catch COVID, now all five classes need to be quarantined,” Aronson said.

Teacher Jeff Treppa said, “I’m concerned about working with a large (number) of students who will be increasingly likely to be asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19, and spread the virus unknowingly in an indoor space with poor ventilation for hours at a time.”

He is fearful the school board “that serves the business community and parents who want the child care function are going to open us up without adequate concern.”

Willard-Rose said he recognizes families need schools open because of the economic strain on parents who otherwise can’t work. In late June, he proposed schools adopt a remote learning plan “with a caveat” that schools open with minimal staffing to provide “supervision, tutoring, guidance, social workers, counselors and one-on-one assistance available every day.”

His plan would give students, especially elementary students, somewhere to be and offer them the help they need to not only meet the academic assignments but also get the social/emotional assistance normally available to them.

To reduce the number of students in a building, he suggested they meet with teachers, counselors and social workers by appointment. There is still a risk, he said, but a lesser risk with fewer people in the H-F building at one time.

A June 26 letter on the H-F website from Principal Jerry Anderson and Superintendent Von Mansfield notes staffing could be complicated because of limited teachers making themselves available for in-person sessions.

“Just as our school is considering blended learning, the schools of our staff’s children are making some of the same plans. If many districts decide to do blended learning, there may not be enough teachers and staff to properly staff our classrooms and campus,” they said. “The majority of our staff has children who are between the ages of 1 and 13, and this may affect our ability to facilitate in-school learning due to staffing levels.”

The letter goes on to say, “The number of students, teachers and staff members who have medical conditions and the required accompanying medical certification — which may preclude them from attending school on campus during a pandemic — may result in having to move all classes online.”

A recent survey by the teachers union, Homewood-Flossmoor Education Organization, found many are apprehensive about returning to school. HFEO President Dana Noble said the union is meeting this week with the H-F administrative team to review its members concerns.

The district has surveyed parents and staff on what they want from H-F this fall. Those results have not been made available.

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