No return to school this term
Remote learning continues as state registers largest one-day increase in COVID-19 cases
There will no return to school this spring in Illinois. (Shutterstock)
By Ted Cox
The governor declared all schools closed across the state for the remainder of the spring term Friday, as Illinois registered its largest one-day increase in new cases of COVID-19.
At the daily coronavirus briefing at the Thompson Center in Chicago, Gov. Pritzker acknowledged that the school routine is “a source of joy for so many” students and educators, but he added, “it also opens up an almost limitless opportunity for potential COVID-19 infection.”
The governor said, “The science says our students can’t go back to their normal routine. Therefore I am suspending in-person learning in schools for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.”
Schools have been closed since March 17, and districts and colleges across the state have made various arrangements for remote learning. That will continue to the end of the school year.
Pritzker said he felt for teachers, special-education instructors, administrators, and parents, telling the latter, “I promise you, you will get through this.” As for seniors, he said, “You will get through this too … and you will go on to do amazing things.” He said he’d be open to some sort of commemoration for graduates, whether later in the spring or later in the summer. For all students, he commented on the “unprecedented circumstances,” the like of which no previous generation had experienced, but he added, “The hard things we did get through we learned from, and you’re going to learn from this.”
It was hard to make an argument against the move on a day that saw the state post its largest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases: 1,842, bringing the Illinois total to 27,575. The 62 new deaths reported Friday were half the record 125 posted the day before, but still brought the state toll to 1,134.
“The science does show that social distancing works, and I hope people remember this and take it to heart,” said Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “We won’t abandon all the good that we’ve done.”
“It’s never encouraging to see a number go up and not down in this circumstance,” Pritzker said. But he and Ezike both emphasized that the state also registered its second-largest day for testing at the same time. “The more we test, the more we’re going to see test positive,” Pritzker added.
“We did not think we were at our peak yet,” Ezike said. Pointing out that flattening the upward curve of infections, as the state appears to be doing, actually delays the peak or potentially extends the plateau, she added, “We’re not exactly surprised we would see more cases.”
“We have not peaked,” Pritzker acknowledged. “We are in a period where again you can see it bending, this curve, because we know what the projections were if we had not put the stay-at-home order in place — much worse than where we are today.”
Pritzker and Ezike both said they were focusing more on hospitalizations, to make sure the state health-care system isn’t overwhelmed. The latest statewide data showed 4,454 coronavirus patients in the hospital, but occupying less than a quarter of the available beds. Ezike did grant that “there are individual hospitals that may be full,” reporting that the first five patients suffering from less severe cases of COVID-19 had been transferred to the McCormick Place Alternate Care Facility in Chicago, which had welcomed Pritzker, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot earlier in the day.
On schools, Pritzker urged teachers and administrators to see that any grades that go out “reflect unprecedented circumstances,” later adding, “There may need to be more understanding.”
Kathi Griffin, president of the Illinois Education Association, the state’s largest school union with 135,000 members, backed the governor. “We support Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s decision to close our school buildings through the end of the year,” Griffin said in a statement. “This decision was based on facts and scientific data, and we believe it is the right move to ensure the safety of our students, our educators, and our communities. While we know there is absolutely no replacement for the one-to-one contact educators have with our students in schools, our teachers, paraprofessionals, adjuncts, and support staff across the state are doing everything they can to make sure all students are safe, fed, and are successful during the remote learning that will continue for the rest of the school year.”
“Students and families are experiencing loss and grief right now,” said Donna Leak, vice chairwoman of the Illinois State Board of Education and superintendent of a district in Sauk Village in the south suburbs of Chicago. “Their lives have been completely upended, and schools are a valuable resource to help students and their families cope with this sudden transition into the unknown.”
State Superintendent of Education Carmen Ayala said, “Will students return to school totally caught up? We’re not expecting them to.” She said ISBE would be releasing guidelines both on learning and education and on “students’ social-emotional needs when they return to the classrooms — whenever that is safe to do so.”