On Monday, Sept. 25, Kaneland Community Unit School District 302 hosted its regularly scheduled board meeting at 7 p.m. in the sixth-grade team room at Kaneland Harter Middle School. All board members were present, with Ryan Kleisner attending over a conference call. Associate Superintendent Dr. Julie-Ann Fuchs was not present.
Before the meeting began, Superintendent Dr. Todd Leden spoke of the district’s new staff members who had been hired prior to this school year. Leden and the new staff had a meet and greet before the meeting. Following the Pledge of Allegiance, roll call and approval of the agenda, the Board dismissed those who needed to leave.
The first and only item under new business was the discussion of the new e-learning plan, explained by Director of Educational Services EC-5 Dr. Sarah Mumm and Director of Educational Services 6-12 Patrick Raleigh. The plan will be used as a way for students to learn at home remotely on emergency weather days. This way, there would be a plan to avoid extending the school year in order to make up for the time missed.
“When we dug into what the learning experiences for our students are going to be, we wanted to try to replicate that day of learning as closely as possible to what our students would experience [if they were in the building],” Raleigh said.
The e-learning plan can be used in place of snow days during the winter or for extreme heat days, something that occurred earlier in the year this school year.
“There is [some] time in order to make sure our teachers are best prepared for that day. We used 8 p.m. that day as the cut off,” Raleigh said.
With an 8 p.m. deadline, school for the following day can only be turned into an e-learning day if it is announced on time. Once announced, the e-learning day cannot be changed back to an in-person day of school. If inclement weather comes out of nowhere after 8 p.m., then the following school day will be canceled and tacked on to the end of the year.
While students in grades 2-12 have access to Chromebooks, Canvas and / or alternative online resources, early childhood students through first graders do not. Teachers for those youngest grade levels have gathered work supplies and created “blizzard bags” for their students to use on e-learning days. They would complete self-guided work with any necessary help coming from a guardian, and teachers would set up a minimum of three office hours for any questions.
Students in grades 2-12 will be expected to attend all classes through Google Meets.
“You can only use it for the maximum of the five days that you have built in for your emergency plan,” Leden explained.
If there were any unforeseen events that would cause students to stay at home for longer than intended, the district will discuss further action and an alternative plan. It will depend on the building it occurs in or the general situation.
To assist those who may need help when it comes to Internet access or Wi-Fi issues, the district has purchased 40-60 wireless jetpacks. These can be picked up by students at their school’s main office.
The last point that was brought up regarded penalization of students for not attending class on e-learning days. Students in grades 2-5 will not be punished for not attending their classes on Google Meets. Students in grades 6-12 can be penalized, but it is up to their teacher. Otherwise, there will be no severe punishment for not attending. Guardians can also call students out of class for an excused absence.
“We had e-learning days before COVID-19 and they were not as well planned as this is,” Board member Edmund Koch said.
The discussion ended with a vote to pass the e-learning plan. The plan passed with a vote of five to two and will now move to the Regional Office of Education and then to the Illinois State Board of Education.
Board president Addam Gonzales then recognized senior and student representative Katie Pfotenhauer. She discussed Kaneland High School’s plans for Homecoming, the latest sports achievements and other activities going on within the school.
The next Board meeting will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 11, due to no school being held on that Monday.
