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Timely article in the Tribune by ChicagoWave03

After a fall surge of coronavirus infections, more Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic schools will temporarily transition to e-learning next week.

Catholic elementary schools were scheduled to shift to remote learning for two weeks at the beginning of next year, but “escalating COVID-19 rates within the general population” prompted the Office of Catholic Schools to modify its original plan, spokesman Manuel Gonzales said.

The decision also comes after the archdiocese surveyed stakeholders at all 162 schools in Cook and Lake counties to measure their comfort with in-person learning during the holiday season.

The survey measured parent satisfaction, preference for in-person or remote learning, and stress and workload considerations among teachers, Gonzales said.

“The results were that 80% of the schools needed no, or minimal, alteration of our current procedures,” he said. “The other 20% were candidates for more extensive adjustments, and it is for those schools we will be constructing individual (virtual learning) plans.”

The archdiocese will work with the 20% of schools that will transition to remote learning, and those schools should have their plan defined by Wednesday, archdiocese officials said. Officials from the archdiocese did not identify which schools those are.

This adjustment comes as educators continue to try to figure out how best to proceed with in-person and remote learning amid a pandemic.

Most public school systems in the Chicago area decided to continue with remote learning this fall or opened their buildings for limited in-person classes. Chicago Public Schools has remained remote since the March statewide schools shutdown but aims to begin bringing students back in January.

However, schools in the Chicago Archdiocese opened full time, with safety measures in place and remote learning options for parents who were not comfortable with their children returning to the classroom.