A school district in Illinois said it is prioritizing black and brown students for in-person class time alongside students who were failing last spring.
In an announcement on Tuesday, Illinois District 65, which educates students from Evanston and Skokie, said it will prioritize students from racial minority groups if more families opt to return to school in September than the district can accommodate under its social distancing guidelines.
Deputy Superintendent LaTarsha Green said that “students receiving free or reduced lunch, black and brown students, students who received an [Incomplete] or less than 50% on their report cards, emerging bilinguals, and students with [individualized education plans]” will be prioritized for in-person instruction.
“We’re trying to support every single child to the best of our ability, and we can’t allow a political cash train to take over our decision-making regarding how we return our students to school. We have to make sure that students who’ve been oppressed — that we don’t continue to oppress them and that we give them opportunity,” said Superintendent Devon Horton.
“I’ve heard for quite some time that this is a community that’s about equity for black and brown students, for special education students, for LGBTQ students. We know that this is important work, and we’re going to prioritize that,” he added.
Melissa Messinger, a spokeswoman for the district, told Fox News that the policy of prioritizing certain groups of students is in line with statewide guidance.
“This decision aligns directly to the guidance released by the Illinois State Board of Education on June 23 in using an equity lens to implement and transition into blended learning. This was also a top idea recommended by our Community-based Task Force,” Messinger said. “As a community deeply committed to educational equity, we will continue to root our decision-making on how to best serve our most vulnerable student populations.”
It is not yet clear how many students will choose to return to school. All students will be taught online until Sept. 29. When schools reopen, students will only receive in-person instruction Tuesday through Friday, and Monday classes will remain online to allow an extra day for the district to sanitize the schools.
[Read more: Andrew Cuomo says New York schools will open in the fall]
