Evanston opts to keep fall classes online only

High school district will not participate in hybrid program

Students in Evanston Township High School District 202 will continue e-learning this fall and will not participate in a hybrid in-person/remote-learning plan as originally announced earlier in the week.

“Beginning Monday, August 17, all ETHS students will participate in enhanced e-learning until further notice,” reads a statement posted Fridayon the District 202 website announcing the 2020 fall reopening plan.

ETHS will transition to a hybrid model that includes in-person instruction only “if conditions permit,” the statement reads.

“Our work is not done. In light of continually shifting circumstances and guidance, ETHS must remain flexible and responsive,” said Superintendent Eric Witherspoon in the online statement.

The announcement is a change from the framework presented at Monday’s Board of Education meeting, during which administrators described an in-person/ remote learning hybrid plan that would bring about a quarter of the school’s nearly 4,000 students into the 1.3 million square-foot building for a week at a time. That plan was set to begin after Labor Day.

The e-learning model for the 2020-21 school year “will look different than e-learning in the spring,” wrote Witherspoon and ETHS Principal Marcus Campbell in a Friday message to students and families. Students will follow their daily class period schedule during remote e-learning. Academic expectations and requirements will include attendance, grading and other assessments, according to the statement.

ETHS officials also plan to enhance services to help meet the emotional needs of students during the ongoing pandemic, according to the statement.

ETHS teachers praised the administration’s change of course.

“The ETHS faculty acknowledges and embraces the value of in person instruction. We’re eager to get back,” said Gionmatthias Schelbert, president of the ETHS Dist. 202 teachers’ union.

However, “there’s no perfect system to be in school right now in person, and we have a safe choice” in remote learning, Schelbert said.

With Friday’s decision, “We can focus 100% of our efforts between now and the first day on getting our remote instruction ready for game time,” Schelbert said.