Barrington 220 weekly COVID-19 update
March 1, 2021

Dear Barrington 220 Community: 

This week Health Metric #1 on our coronavirus webpage continues to remain below the 200 cases per 100,000 threshold, which means it is at Step 3 (Hybrid). As we have reported in recent weeks, all other metrics remain in Step 4 (Reopen). Metric #1 will need to improve to less than 50 in order to implement further changes to include a full reopen. This is because CDC guidance requires 6 feet or more of physical distancing if the number for Health Metric #1 is greater than 50. Once that number goes below 50, the CDC guidelines allow schools to relax the physical distance expectations and open for full in-person instruction.

To continue monitoring our community numbers for Metric #1, visit the Northwestern Medicine Dashboard. Please remember to use the following zip codes: 60010, 60021, 60110, and 60192.
 
The district is currently developing plans at all grade levels so that Barrington 220 is prepared to safely implement full day instruction at all grades levels in the event that Health Metric #1 falls below 50 in our community. All Barrington High School students who wish to do in-person instruction are currently able to attend five days a week for a full day, due to low in-person student attendance at the high school. 
Spring Break travel information
Spring Break in Barrington 220 is the week of March 22 - March 26. If you are planning to travel, we wanted to share these public health guidelines for domestic and international travel which discuss quarantine procedures. Please note, this guidance changes frequently and may be update over the next three weeks. We will provide updates if anything changes.

Any student in grades 6-12 who needs to quarantine due to travel will be able to do concurrent instruction from home, as our secondary teachers are already teaching students in the classroom and students who are at home concurrently (at the same time).

All elementary students who must quarantine due to travel can use sick days, which will be marked as EXCUSED absences. Elementary teachers are not required to do concurrent virtual instruction due to travel. However, elementary students who must quarantine due to travel will still be able to access their assignments through Seesaw or Schoology, and work on those lessons independently without face-to-face instruction. 
Distance Learning interest survey
Barrington 220 is planning for a return to full in-person learning for all students at the start of the 2021-22 school year. However, the district understands that given the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, and the desire of some students to participate in a fully virtual program even after the pandemic, there are families who may wish to choose to continue with Distance Learning in the fall and beyond. In order for Barrington 220 to understand the interest of families who may wish to choose a virtual option next school year, the district sent out a survey to all families. Please note, this is only a survey to gauge interest and not a commitment to a learning plan for next school year. The district will share the results of the survey at the April 6 Board of Education meeting. Based on the information received, the district may begin planning the details for a “virtual academy” for next school year.
Upcoming Board of Education meeting
The next regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting is Tuesday, March 2 at 7pm. Click here to view the agenda. The meeting will be held in person at Station Middle School.

The number of people in the room will be limited to 50, as suburban Cook County and Lake County are in Phase 4 under the State’s Restore Illinois Plan. The livestream of all meetings are viewable via the Board's YouTube channel.