Dear D76 Families and Staff,

As you may know, Illinois Governor, J. B. Pritzker held a COVID-19 press conference yesterday where he announced new mitigations for the state as COVID-19 metrics continue to climb and as hospital capacities continue to be stretched statewide.

The governor issued new rules regarding indoor masking, educational employee vaccination or testing requirements. The indoor masking order, statewide, begins Monday, August 30, and the requirement for educational employees to begin their COVID-19 vaccine regimen is September 5. All educational employees must get a COVID-19 vaccination or submit to testing weekly (or more frequently if ordered by the local health department).

We are proud that the majority of our staff are fully vaccinated. We will continue to work with our labor union leaders and the Board of Education and also coordinate individually with our unvaccinated staff members. We will communicate internally with our staff on the specifics of how we will verify staff vaccination status, coordinate weekly testing as appropriate, and continue to ensure the District follows public health mandates and rules and orders.

Our consistent and continuous priorities are health, safety, learning and communication. We’re proud to be open, full day and full time and fully in person. Thank you for your continued support, understanding and partnership.