Dear Parents, Students and Staff,

Thank you for your continued patience.  Late last night an Illinois appellate court dismissed the Governor’s appeal, which means that his executive order, including the mandate for masks in schools, has expired. However, the Governor has announced his intent to appeal the ruling to the Illinois Supreme Court. We will continue to monitor the litigation.

I want to acknowledge that our students, staff and families have been patient, empathetic and compassionate with each other and we must remain to have empathy as we move forward.  Individuals have had different experiences with COVID-19 that cause them to feel a certain way and it is okay to agree to disagree on decisions and personal beliefs, but it is not okay to be disrespectful or mean to others regarding these beliefs.  We will not tolerate bullying or meanness of any kind towards anyone for any reason. Please continue to be respectful and empathetic to everyone and we will get back to a place of normalcy where everyone can feel comfortable.

As of Tuesday, JTHS is recommending that everyone continue to wear masks; however, this will no longer be a requirement.  Therefore, we will make a face shield available to any staff or student who would like to wear a shield in addition to a mask for additional protection. We will also continue to have the plexi-glass up in the cafeteria for the remainder of the school year. Masking on school busses and district vehicles is a federal regulation and is still required.

Even though the state level masking order has expired, COVID-19 is still considered to be a significant health risk to many. It is also important to share that the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and our local health department have not changed their guidance regarding COVID-19 mitigations and wearing masks in areas of substantial or high transmission is still a recommendation.  Below are the Risk Categories that align to both IDPH and CDC:

       JTHS Transmission Risk Categories align to both IDPH and CDC Categories

From the time COVID-19 data has been available, JTHS has followed the data to make informed decisions.  All recommendations and actions have been based on health guidance and community metrics.  The ZIP codes from Joliet, Shorewood and Elwood together comprise the JTHS Service Area.  The 14-day rolling average is 4.17% (it was 6.30% last week) and the 7-day ­­­­rolling average is 2.99% (it was 5.76% last week).  The number of new cases per 100K population for the 14-Day span is 339.1 and 137.9 for 7-Day.  The target for this data is to be less than 50 per 100K per week.  Below is the chart that we continue to update:  

According to the CDC, if two indicators suggest different transmission levels, the higher level is selected as the transmission level.  Therefore, because new cases per 100,000 persons in the past 7 days is at 137.9 for our ZIP Code Service Area, we are still in High Transmission overall, but we are moving in the right direction. Therefore, it is highly recommended that students and staff wear masks while indoors when not able to distance more than three feet from each other. 

There is no doubt that we will continue to have changes to our current COVID mitigation plan in the coming weeks, especially as we continue to move to a moderate or low transmission rate. 

We want to take a moment to thank our students for showing respect towards one another and following school rules while the court case was pending. Thank you again to our students, staff and families for making JTHS the best place there is to learn and work.  We will continue to move forward together!

Dr. Karla Guseman  Superintendent

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