Lake Forest teachers send warning letter to Board of Education about dangers of keeping schools open amid COVID

The Board of Education of Lake Forest School District 115 received a warning letter from the Lake Forest Education Association (LFEA) about the financial dangers of keeping schools open. The Lake County Health Department has already recommended shifting the school activities to remote learning after the rising number of COVID positive cases.

The LFEA said that it would continue its call for immediate switching to remote learning at the school board meeting that would be held tonight. Becca Schwartz, the president of the LFEA, said that the decision of the school district to keep Lake Forest High School open was reckless and dangerous due to the rising number of coronavirus cases.

“We have voiced our concerns again and again, but our objections have been ignored,” added Schwartz. Schwartz criticized the board for not taking the lives of teachers and students seriously. The LFEA has now taken a new stance to talk about something that does matter to the board members, money. “The board members need to be concerned about the very real possibility of being held liable when students and staff contract COVID at school,” noted Schwartz.

The Lake County Health Department recommended on October 20 that all schools should switch to remote learning immediately due to the rising COVID infection rate. However, the Lake Forest School District 115 BOE voted on October 22 to keep Lake Forest High School open for in-person learning.

Schwartz said that they knew some students and staff members had coronavirus at the school. The students and staff are at risk of being infected by the virus. The LFEA is not happy with the decision of the board to keep a building open for in-person learning that has COVID-19 in it. “It is stunning the board continues to ignore data,” concluded Schwartz. The LFEA is currently having 158 members that serve 1600 students.