Project restart; effort clear amongst complaints
Gregory Schram, a recently retired teacher, getting a drink at Starbucks, glad he isn’t still teaching.
Hinsdale Township’s District 86 restart plan is in full swing with students and teachers returning to the school as of Oct. 5, with mixed reactions.
The school split kids into four separate groups in order to try to keep the number of students low enough to be safe. However, this is difficult on teachers as they are expected to be teaching students in person and online at the same time.
Penny Davies, a recently retired elementary school teacher said, “Of my friends that are teaching under a hybrid model like Central’s, it has been really hard for them this year.”
From her report it seems as if schools have generally forced teachers into having to do more work, while placing those teachers at potential risk from the COVID outbreak. Davies isn’t alone in being glad that she doesn’t have to deal with the challenges of teaching this year.
Recently retired Applied Tech teacher Gregory Schram said, “I’m glad I’m not teaching anymore.” He also commented on the fact that some of the older teachers at Hinsdale Middle School retired earlier than they might have planned on due to COVID.
“It’s not fully in person and it seems more of a way to please angry parents than to focus on going back to school,” said Adam Chacin, sophomore. “It all seems a bit rushed.”
Despite the rigorous health routines that Central have followed some students said they still feel there is too great a risk for them to consider resuming in person school.
Safety measures have been heightened with the cleaning of desks and seats between classes, a mandatory rule on masks, and the introduction of one way hallways. In addition more automatic hand sanitizers have been added as well as turning off the water fountains in an effort to stop the spread of germs.
According to Armaan Sinha, sophomore, there has been much frustration due to the one way hallways and lack of social distancing. He said that while he felt safe because everyone wore a mask, during passing periods he was no less than two feet away from others at most times.
This phased in approach will last through Nov. 6 with the return to school committee meeting before then to discuss next steps.
