Dear District 58 Families,
As you are aware, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued updated guidance for public schools. School districts in Illinois must follow the guidance from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). On Friday, District 58 received the following message (verbiage in italics) from the IDPH regarding the CDC’s update:
Summary and Action Items
- The CDC recently issued new Isolation and Quarantine Guidance to shorten the isolation and quarantine periods for the general public. On January 4, 2022, the CDC clarified that these recommendations apply to K-12 Schools and on January 6, 2022 released school specific guidance, namely Overview of COVID-19 Isolation for K-12 Schools and Overview of COVID-19 Quarantine for K-12 Schools.
- IDPH and ISBE plan to revise its existing regulations and guidance documents regarding exclusion from P-12 Schools to align with the time periods in the CDC’s Isolation and Quarantine guidance.
- Updated IDPH/ISBE regulations and guidance documents will be released soon.
Please note that all school districts in Illinois are still awaiting the official guidance document from the IDPH. Prior to moving forward with the CDC’s recommendations, District 58 must ensure that the IDPH’s guidance mirrors the guidance provided by the CDC (this is not always the case). Once we receive the official word from the IDPH, District 58 staff will work diligently to contact all impacted families so students can return to school. We are aware that some districts have opted to move forward without official guidance. District 58 and many other districts have opted not to do this as it could cause a substantial disruption to the educational process in the event IDPH has different requirements than the CDC. We thank you for your patience and recognize how frustrating the State’s lack of urgency to this matter is for our families. We have expressed our concerns to the Illinois State Board of Education and insisted that the guidance be updated so impacted students can return. Please stay tuned for updates.
Sincerely,
Dr. Kevin Russell
Superintendent of Schools