>> WELL, SOME CHICAGO PUBLIC

SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE SET TO HEAD

BACK TO THE CLASSROOM IN

JANUARY, SOME CATHOLIC SCHOOL

STUDENTS COULD BE SWITCHING TO

REMOTE LEARNING.

THE ARCHDIOCESE ANNOUNCED

SCHOOLS WILL HAVE THE OPTION TO

TRANSITION AFTER THANKSGIVING

BUT IT'S NOT CLEAR HOW MANY

SCHOOLS WILL CHOOSE TO DO THAT.

JOINING US IS JUSTIN LOMBARDO,

CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER

FOR THE ARCHDIOCESE OF CHICAGO.

JUSTIN, THE ARCHDIOCESE SAYS 80%

OF SCHOOLS WANT TO CONTINUE WITH

IN-PERSON LEARNING, 20% WANTED

TO GO ALL REMOTE BUT THERE HAVE

BEEN NO KNOWN CASES OF

CORONAVIRUS SPREAD IN SCHOOL.

WHY DID YOU WANT TO GIVE SCHOOLS

THIS OPTION?

>> WE WANTED SCHOOLS TO HAVE THE

OPTION SO THAT WE WOULD

UNDERSTAND THE LOCAL SITUATION

THAT THEY ARE IN.

WE, OF COURSE, LOOK AT CRITERIA.

AND BRANDIS, I WANTED TO CLARIFY

WHEN WE TALK ABOUT MOVING REMOTE

IT'S NOT A PERMANENT MOVE TO

REMOTE.

IT'S SIMPLY AN EARLIER PIVOT FOR

REMOTE LEARNING WHICH WE'VE SAID

WILL HAPPEN THROUGH JANUARY

15TH.

AFTER THAT DATE WE ARE FULLY

EXPECTING TO BE 100% BACK

IN-PERSON.

BUT THE REASON WHY WE LOOKED AT

IT NOW WE WERE LOOKING AT ISSUES

OF THE CURRENT TRAJECTORY OF THE

PANDEMIC PARTICULARLY DURING THE

HOLIDAY SEASON.

WE WERE LOOKING AT WHAT OUR

PARENTS ARE SAYING TO US.

WHAT QUESTIONS THEY ARE ASKING.

WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT

OPERATIONAL ISSUES PARTICULARLY

THE STRESS AND THE EXTRA

WORKLOAD ON TEACHERS TO MANAGE A

DUAL MODE OF TEACHING.

MANY TEACH REMOTELY AND HAVE TO

TAKE CARE OF THE INCLASSROOM.

GIVEN ALL THE FACTORS LET'S LOOK

AND ASK MORE ABOUT WHERE THE

SCHOOLS ARE FEELING THEY ARE AT

TO MANAGE THROUGH THE CHRISTMAS

BREAK.

>> AND THANK YOU FOR THAT POINT

OF CLARIFICATION.

YOU'VE ANNOUNCED THE FIRST TWO

WEEKS OF 2021 WILL BE ALL REMOTE

TO CREATE THAT SORT OF

QUARANTINE PERIOD IN CASE PEOPLE

SHOULD TRAVEL AROUND CHRISTMAS.

THAT PLAN IS IN EFFECT.

REMIND US WHAT PREVENTION

MEASURES YOU HAVE IN PLACE FOR

IN-PERSON LEARNING?

>> WELL, WE FOLLOW MOST OF THE

PREVENTION MEASURES THAT HAVE

BEEN PROVEN EFFECTIVE IN

SCHOOLS.

WE MASK FOR THE ENTIRE DAY.

THE CHILDREN ARE PLACED IN

COHORTS AND THEY STAY WITH THAT

SAME GROUP OF STUDENTS FOR THE

ENTIRE LEARNING DAY AND THEY ARE

SEPARATED FROM ALL OTHER

STUDENTS THROUGH LUNCH,

RECREATION TIME AND ALL THAT.

SO THEY ARE TOGETHER AS A COHORT

EVERYDAY THE SAME GROUP OF KIDS.

WE MANAGE TO THE SOCIAL

DISTANCING.

WE ENCOURAGE AND KEEP HAND

SANITIZING PROTOCOLS AND

CLEANING PROTOCOLS IN THE

SCHOOL.

THE OTHER THING WHEN WE GET A

POSITIVE OR A PRESUMPTIVE

POSITIVE, IN ANY OF THE COHORTS

OR EVEN A CLOSE EXPOSURE WE ACT

ON IT IMMEDIATELY.

WE WILL QUARANTINE A COHORT TO

MOVE AWAY.

WE WILL QUARANTINE AN INDIVIDUAL

WHO IS A PRESUMPTIVE POSITIVE AS

WELL AS THE COHORT.

AND CLOSE CONTACTS WE MOVE THEM

OUT OF THE CLASSROOMS BACK HOME

TO E-LEARNING QUICKLY AS WE CAN.

THOSE ARE OUR FUNDAMENTAL

PROTOCOLS.

WE VISIT THE SCHOOLS REGULARLY

ON A RANDOM BASIS BECAUSE WE

SURVEY THEM AND WE LOOK AT THE

DATA AND VISIT TO MAKE SURE THAT

THE STANDARD PROTOCOLS WE WANT

FOLLOWED ARE BEING IMPLEMENTED

CORRECTLY AND WE FIND VERY FEW

SCHOOLS WHERE WE HAVE TO

INTERVENE.

>> JUSTIN ARE YOU CONCERNED THAT

OVER THANKSGIVING AND THEN LATER

OVER THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY THAT

STUDENTS MIGHT GATHER WITH

EXTENDED FAMILIES AND POSSIBLY

CREATE A SPIKE IN CASES FOR THE

ARCH

ARCHDIOCESE?

>> I THINK THAT IS ON THE PLATE.

ALL ONE HAS TO DO IS LOOK AT

FILM ON YOUR NEWSCAST AS WELL AS

OTHERS OF THE AIRPORTS.

AND THE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE THAT

ARE THERE.

ALSO THE DATA OUT OF CANADA

WHICH CELEBRATES ITS

THANKSGIVING EARLIER THAN WE DO,

THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT

PUBLISHED THAT THEY BELIEVE

STRONGLY THAT AT TWO WEEKS AFTER

THEIR THANKSGIVING IN OCTOBER,

THEY HAVE A EXPERIENCED A

SIGNIFICANT BUMP IN CASES.

SO WE CANNOT IGNORE THE FACT

THAT PEOPLE ARE GOING TO TRAVEL.

WE'RE SEEING THEM TRAVELING.

SO WE BELIEVE THE JUDICIOUS

THING IS LOOK AT THE LOCAL

CONTEXT AND SEE WHAT WE CAN DO

TO HEAD OFF THAT SPIKE.

>> YOU ALL MADE THE DECISION TO

ALLOW SCHOOLS TO GO REMOTE BASED

ON A SURVEY OF TEACHERS AND

STAFF.

HOW DID ANSWERS VARY ACROSS THE

COMMUNITY?

SOME COMMUNITIES ARE FACING

DIFFERENT RATES OF CORONAVIRUS

THAN OTHERS?

>> THAT'S REALLY A VERY GOOD

QUESTION.

ACROSS THE BOARD BY AND LARGE WE

HAD A DISTRIBUTION OF ROUGHLY

80% WANTED TO STAY THE COURSE.

IRRESPECTIVE OF WHERE THEY CAME

FROM.

20% THAT DID ASK EITHER TO

REMOVE COMPLETELY MOVE NOW

COMPLETELY TO VIRTUAL AFTER THE

THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY OR TO ALLOW

A HYBRID BACK AND FORTH.

I WILL SAY SOME OF OUR SCHOOLS

WHICH HAVE ALREADY HAD A HIGHER

PERCENTAGE OF THE LEARNER'S

HAVING PIVOTED TO E-LEARNING

ALREADY, INCREASED THAT

PERCENTAGE.

SO THEIR RESPONSES OFTEN WERE

HIGHER IN THE RANGE OF LET'S

MOVE NOW.

SO WE SAW THAT ACROSS DIFFERENT

COMMUNITIES.

>> AND HOW WILL YOU DECIDE WHAT

OTHER CHANGES YOU MIGHT NEED TO

MAKE GOING FORWARD WITH REGARD

TO REMOTE VERSUS IN-PERSON

LEARNING?

>> AGAIN WE ARE GOING TO MONITOR

WHAT IS GOING ON.

WE ARE LOOKING AT CONTINUOUSLY

AT THE FACTORS OF WHAT ARE OUR

FAMILIES TELLING US, WHAT IS THE

GENERAL ENVIRONMENT AROUND THE

PANDEMIC AND WHAT HEALTH EXPERTS

ARE TELLING US BOTH THE PUBLIC

DEPARTMENTS OF HEALTH AND OUR

PRIVATE ADVISERS.

WE ARE LOOKING AT WHAT THE

WORKLOAD IS LIKE AND THE

OPERATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

WITHIN A SCHOOL TO KEEP IT

MOVING ALONG.

WE ARE ALSO LOOKING AS WELL AS

THE STRESS LEVELS ON THE

TEACHERS AND STAFF.

WE CONTINUALLY REVIEW THIS DATA.

WE HAVE WITH THE TASK FORCE AND

THE SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM WE

HAVE A CALL EVERYDAY, FOUR DAYS

A WEEK OUT OF THE FIVE.