Three school districts are going into their second year for a three-year state e-learning day trial program. But they ran into an obstacle in monitoring the progress of the program.
All three districts participating in the trial program have not been able to use any e-learning days. That’s because superintendents from Gurnee School District 56, Community High School District 94 in West Chicago, and Leyden High School District 212 in Franklin Park say they didn’t use any snow days last school year.
“You know, it’s a double-edged sword – it really is good and bad,” Doug Domeracki, superintendent for the West Chicago high school district, said. “Good that we didn’t have to take any days – bad that we weren’t able to test out the system.”
Gurnee superintendent John Hutton says he wishes there was a way to have a test run for the system.
“We had asked the state for permission to try it, to practice it where the kids actually stayed home for a day and did it, but that was denied,” Hutton said. “So, the only way we can practice it right now is to practice it at school.”
Hutton says he predicts the e-learning day approach will be better than tacking on a school day at the end of the year. He says that’s judging from how district teachers already use the technology in their curriculum.
With this pilot program in place, Domeracki says it will be nice to have a last day of school set in stone – regardless of weather conditions.
