ELGIN (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The second largest school district in Illinois plans to have a Distance Learning Academy next year, but it will be limited to a certain group of students.
The Illinois State Board of Education wants all students back in classrooms for full, in-person learning in the fall, unless they are unvaccinated and/or have a COVID-related reason not to be in school.
The Board of Education resolution states, “all schools must resume fully in-person learning for all student attendance days, provided that...remote instruction be made available for students who are not eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine and are under a quarantine order by a local public health department or the Illinois Department of Public Health.”
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Because of that, the Elgin District U-46 school board approved plans for a Distance Learning Academy for students who fit that description.
But, U-46 Board member Dawn Martin is not happy with the restrictions on remote learning.
"I’m struggling a little bit with the narrow, narrow, narrow focus of kids that are going to be allowed in this Distance Learning Academy. We have students out there who have been able to be vaccinated, but they still have a significant need or reason to be a part of this Distance Learning Academy," she said.
Supt. Tony Sanders agrees other types of students might benefit from the academy, but that now is not the time.
"We certainly do not want to get back into the position of making it available for everybody and having another 25 percent of the students decide for a Distance Learning Academy. We just do not have the capacity to build that level of a Distance Learning Academy and make it successful," he said.
According to U-46 Deputy Superintendent of Instruction Suzanne Johnson said the Distance Learning Academy would be open only to K-12 students who are unvaccinated and have medical conditions in which serious complications could develop if they contract COVID-19.
Parents who want their children in the Distance Learning Academy have until June 2 to get their applications in. They must provide a signed statement from a medical professional for their child to qualify.
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