More than 17-thousand students in the Valley View School District 365U will begin the school year with all remote learning. It was in July that the district had planned on a hybrid school year with alternating in-classroom and remote learning but a spike in coronavirus is forcing the district to go in a different direction. Read the letter to parents below. The school Board of Education will vote on the plan at Thursday’s board meeting.

Message to VVSD Families from Superintendent Rachel Kinder Regarding Remote Learning below.

As we are certain you are aware, there is a steady march of school districts in Northern Illinois changing their return to school plans from inclusion of limited forms of in-person learning, to full remote learning for all students.  On Thursday, August 6, VVSD Administration will recommend for approval by our Board of Education that all VVSD students begin the 2020-21 school year with remote learning only.  If approved by the Board, remote learning for all students would begin on August 26 (Sept 2 for Early Childhood) and continue for at least the First Quarter, which ends on October 23.

This is not a decision that we make lightly since we truly want our students in school with us where we know we can support them the best. We also realize this will be quite disappointing news for some families, students and staff who were hoping to have at least some in-person time together. This will also bring significant challenges for families with childcare needs and for those who rely on the school for many resources. With this said, however, we know that we cannot confidently recommend an in-person return on August 26 that will meet the expectations for safety and high quality instruction and services for every learner.

Our administrative team and staff members exhausted every avenue in trying to develop a workable plan to have students return to the classroom.  However, the combination of constantly evolving guidance from government agencies, concerns over safety, challenges of logistical planning, and most importantly providing equitable learning for all students, leads us to conclude remote learning for all students is the most reasonable way to ensure safe and secure learning conditions for students and working conditions for staff members.

The agenda for the August 6 Board meeting starting at 7 pm in the Lukancic Middle School Auditorium is posted in the Board Documents section of the VVSD website. (select the “Meetings” tab) Included in those documents is an executive summary of the recommendation to the Board.  In addition, the meeting will be available via live stream on the VVSD YouTube channel ValleyView365U.

Following the Board’s action on the return to school plan at Thursday’s meeting, we will follow up with you to provide additional information and further details on Friday, August 7.

In partnership, 

Rachel Kinder, Ed.S.
Superintendent of Schools