Dear Palos 118 Families,

I hope you are all enjoying summer break and finding time to relax, reconnect and get ready to return to school next month! Palos 118 is hard at work finalizing its 2021-2022 School Year Safety Plan by building off the many successes of the last school year. By working together, we had no known cases of transmission in our schools. Our students were resilient in adapting to new safety requirements. Palos 118 was and will continue to be a leader in safely providing outstanding educational services during this prolonged pandemic.

School will begin on August 25th for grades K-8 and August 26th for preschool. School hours will return to normal, and students will attend full days of instruction. Before and after school programs will be offered by Ivy League at our elementary school sites. Middle school students will once again be switching classes. Band and extracurricular activities will be offered. Gyms will be utilized for P.E. Our elementary school students will enjoy our top-notch playgrounds. Desks will remain three feet apart, but desk partitions have been taken down. Lunches will return, and the National School Lunch Program will provide free lunches for all students. Media Centers will be open, and materials will once again be shared. With few exceptions, school will look very much like school.

The one unknown at this time remains the use of face masks. Guidance regarding the use of masks indoors continues to change and evolve. Earlier this week, school districts received updated guidance on masks from CDC and IDPH. Now, we need ISBE to update its guidance to local school districts. With three and a half weeks to go before the first day of school, I would not at all be surprised if additional changes are announced between now and then if positivity rates continue to rise. What we do know for certain is that all bus riders and bus drivers will be required to wear a face mask while onboard our buses.

I want to thank those individuals that have reached out to the Board and me to share their perspective on the very contentious issue of masks. As I'm sure you are all aware, our community has vocal advocates on all sides of this issue. It is my hope our school community will continue to be an example of how individuals can agree to disagree with compassion, empathy, and understanding of differing opinions. The school district's final decision on masking will be based on our commitment to student and staff safety, guidance from public health officials, operational data collected last school year, local conditions and, the absolute necessity to minimize disruptions to the learning environment. We can't afford to lose any additional instructional time this school year with quarantines or closures.

We are once again called upon to work together to keep one another safe and to open our schools and keep them open. Our community rose to the occasion last year, and I know our students can count on all of us to do it again. Once we have the information, we need to finalize our decision on masking, we will release our plan to the public. To do so any sooner would just cause confusion, which we are seeing in many school districts around the state. Thank you for your understanding and patience.

We look forward to welcoming all our students back to in-person instruction for the 2021-2022 school year!

Sincerely,

Dr. Anthony M. Scarsella

Superintendent of Schools