Updated 4/9/2021 8:09 PM
Amid calls for unity after a contentious Arlington Heights Elementary District 25 board election and reopening debate, divisions on the board were still evident in members narrow 4-3 vote late Thursday to increase in-person learning to five days a week from four.
The schedule change, which would take effect April 26 and last through the end of the school year June 11, had the support of parents and students who ve argued for the effectiveness of in-school learning over remote sessions.
But it was opposed by the teachers union, which sought to keep the weekly Monday remote sessions for extra planning time, small group and one-on-one instruction, and for all students to be on the same remote platform once a week.
Reopening debate divides District 25 board candidates
District 25 and 214 parents rallied last September in North School Park in Arlington Heights to reopen schools. Joe Lewnard | Staff Photographer
Updated 3/12/2021 8:50 PM
Much like the divide in the community that developed last summer, the eight candidates in the contentious Arlington Heights Elementary District 25 board race are split over the degree to which the district should have reopened schools this academic year.
While District 25 families and students who have chosen the in-person option are now back four days a week, school board candidates, parents and residents continue to wrangle over the current board s decision-making process an ongoing debate that began when the district announced in July it would start the school year remotely.