District 91 has extended school closures until at least April 8 and has announced that school lunches will be provided at the Forest Park community center, 7640 Jackson Blvd., from 11 a.m. to noon during spring break, which runs from March 23 through March 27. After that, lunches will once again be provided at Garfield Elementary and Forest Park Middle School.
According to D91 Superintendent Lou Cavallo in a March 20 email to parents, along with the Illinois shelter in place order, “the closure of schools [in Illinois] was extended through April 8. We suspect that this may change again to extend the closure even longer. For now, District 91 schools will be closed through April 8.”
eLearning will continue after spring break, beginning again on March 30. On March 18, Cavallo communicated to parents in an update email that he had received instruction from the State Superintendent of Schools that “the work completed during eLearning days could not be a detriment to a student’s grade but could be used to help a student’s grade.”
“After discussing this with our teacher’s union, we believe it best to not count any work completed during the eLearning days towards any students’ grades. It would be an unfair advantage for some students over others since not all students have the same access,” said Cavallo in the email.
But he added that students should be encouraged to continue doing schoolwork and that teachers would be there to support them.
“We continue to strive to provide an equitable education even during these extraordinary times,” said Cavallo. “Please encourage your children to engage in the learning opportunities provided by our teachers. Our teachers are committed to continued support of our children and will remain accessible during the e-Learning.”
