Updated 2/19/2021 8:27 PM While other Northwest suburban school districts have returned to full-time in-person learning, Wheeling Township Elementary District 21 officials said this week they can't do that -- so long as they continue adhering to a 6-foot social distancing standard in classrooms, amid other logistical challenges. But they said the forthcoming implementation of a districtwide saliva COVID-19 testing program and positive trends in the local virus rate bode well for getting more students back to school for longer periods.
"Particularly as it relates to the elementary (schools), moving toward full in-person in full days is predicated on community spread moving back, unless you choose to deviate from the 6 feet," Superintendent Michael Connolly told school board members during a meeting Thursday night. "That's the best we can do. And again, I fully acknowledge this will not happen fast enough and it will not happen immediately, and that is very disappointing for many. I fully recognize that. We are honestly doing the best that we can do."