Back-to-school in Will County is looking a lot like 2019

Even before the COVID-19 guidance for schools was announced Friday, Joliet Public Schools District 86 shifted its guidelines for preventing the transmission of all infectious diseases.

Theresa Rouse, superintendent Joliet Public Grade Schools District 86, said last week that this means if anyone – student or staff – is sick, they need to stay home, she said.

Rouse said people think that means “going back to normal,” but that’s not true.

“ ‘Normal’ is a setting on the clothes dryer, not school,” Rouse said.

Rouse said District 86 will continue to follow guidance from the state. But District 86 will not be testing for COVID-19 or requiring anyone to wear face masks, she said.

“If people want to wear a face mask, they are welcome to do so,” Rouse said.

On Friday, the Illinois Department of Public Health and Illinois State Board of Education announced its adoption of new operational guidance for schools and early education from the Centers for Disease Control.

Quarantines and easing of physical distancing rules are two of the changes, according to a news release from the state of Illinois. “High levels of vaccinations and infection-induced immunity” contributed to the new guidelines, according to the release.

However, the CDC guidance still recommends face masks when COVID-19 levels are high and when screening for high-risk activities – such as sports and band – and at certain times during the year prom or school breaks, according to the release.

“This updated guidance from the CDC acknowledges the importance of in-person learning by allowing schools to more aptly adjust to changes within their own communities,” State Superintendent of Education Carmen Ayala said in the release. “Administrators can have more flexibility to be able to make the necessary adjustments they need to maintain consistent in-person learning.”

R. Scott Tingley, superintendent at Lincoln-Way Community School District 210, said the district’s COVID-19 guidance still is a “work in progress” but anticipates more updates from the Illinois State Board of Education near the end of the week.

Tingley said District 210 had a “good summer” in terms of not canceling any clubs or activities because of COVID-19.

“Hopefully we’re coming into the school year not spending so much time and energy on that,” Tingley said.

Joliet Township High School District 204 has its COVID-19 guidelines posted on its website. Face masks are neither required nor prohibited.

District 204 will notify the Will County Health Department of “any known or suspected cases of COVID-19, as required by state law, and anyone who tests positive for [COVID-19] or has [COVID-19] symptoms may not return to school for five calendar days, according to District 204. Asymptomatic close contacts will not be excluded, according to the district.

Glenn Wood, superintendent of Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202, said its COVID-19 guidelines are posted on the district website. Face masks are optional, and District 202 is not doing any COVID-19 testing, he said.

“We do have some tests if people want to take them home and use them,” Wood said.

Jim Blaney, spokesperson for Valley View Community Unit School District 365U, said in an email that the district will continue to follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control, the governor’s office, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education.

“As we have done throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” Blaney said in an email.

Reflecting on the past few years, Bob McBride, superintendent of Lockport 205, said the pandemic raised a variety of issues in schools – medical, legal, political – in ways that even made hiring staff difficult.

But, maybe, hopefully, that’s in the past now.

“We are looking forward to the most normal year we’ve had in three years this year,” McBride said.