Will County
Regional Office of Education

Due to health and safety concerns surrounding the COVID-19 virus, the Will County Regional Office of Education will be closed to in-person services unless by appointment. Members of the public can call the Regional Office at 815-740-8360 to schedule an appointment, or visit www.willroe.org for email contact information in order to reach office personnel.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding during this unprecedented crisis.

Food Assistance and Essential Services Map

Information on available nutritional resources across Will County is available via this interactive web site. Help is available! #WillSchoolsPride #ilschoolsstepup

1. Free School Meal Locations
2. Grocery and Pharmacy Special Hours 
3. Food Pantries
4. Micro Food Pantries 

https://c19-willcountygis.hub.arcgis.com/pages/food-resources

Remote and Hybrid Instruction Networks

The Will County Regional Office of Education will be hosting Online Networks for curriculum leaders in Will County schools. These sessions will  focus on both Remote Learning and Hybrid Instruction for grades K-12.  These networks will give interested educational leaders the opportunity to discuss the successes and challenges their learning communities have faced in meeting student needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The networks are open to all educational leaders including; principals, curriculum directors, department chairs, teacher leaders and superintendents.

Each session will begin at 1:00 pm and conclude by 3:00 pm on the respective date identified below. Participants will earn PD credits for the sessions attended. We are asking that educators register online with PDA using the provided link for any sessions in which they are interested in no less than 48 hours prior to the event.  Registration for each session is limited to 30 educators.  We will send the Zoom link for the meetings in the days prior to the session. 

The schedule and associated registration links for these meetings are as follows:

Grades K-3 Remote Network Meeting

Tuesday, September 15^th

https://www.pdaonline.org/Registration/WorkshopDetail.php?id=200915M-2

Grades 4-8 Remote Network Meeting

Wednesday, September 16^th

https://www.pdaonline.org/Registration/WorkshopDetail.php?id=200916M-1

Grades K-3 Hybrid Network Meeting

Tuesday, September 22^nd

https://www.pdaonline.org/Registration/WorkshopDetail.php?id=200922M-1

Grades 4-8 Hybrid Network Meeting

Wednesday, September 23^rd

https://www.pdaonline.org/Registration/WorkshopDetail.php?id=200923M-1

High School Remote/Hybrid Network Meeting

Thursday, September 17^th

https://www.pdaonline.org/Registration/WorkshopDetail.php?id=200917M-1

There is no cost for Will County educators to participate in these interactive sessions.

Educator Licensure Information System (ELIS) Issue

Individuals may encounter an error message when attempting to log into ELIS.  The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is aware and working on the issue.  In the meantime, here are a few suggestions:

• Try various browsers: Internet Explorer, Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, etc.
• Try to clear the browser history/cache.
• Try rebooting your system.
• If none of this works after several attempts, give it some time and try again later.  

If an individual is still unable to enter ELIS after days of attempting the trouble shooting above AND gaining access is urgent, contact ISBE at 217-557-6763 or licensure@isbe.net. Apologies for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience.  

 School Bus Permit Update 

On Friday April  10^th Secretary Jesse White announced that an Emergency Rule was filed to extend the expiration dates for DLs, IDs, vehicle registrations, other transactions and document filings for at least 90 days after Driver Services Facilities reopen.

Due to the COVID-19 virus and based on recommendations by health and safety experts, all Secretary of State Driver Services Facilities are closed to the public. Essential Secretary of State staff are working.  All driver’s licenses, instruction permits, permits and identification cards that were set to expire on or after March 17, 2020 are being extended for a period of 30 days.  This includes School Bus Permits.   We recognize that it may be difficult to complete the annual refresher training during this period, so a grace period of 30 days will be allowed for completion of this training.

Constitution Testing Update:

Due to the COVID-19 virus and recommendations by health and safety experts, constitution testing is by appointment only. Before calling to make an appointment, please check the constitution test page under the services tab for available dates. 

National Board Certified Teacher

 ROE 56 is proud to announce we will be a cohort host for teachers and counselors pursuing National Board Certification during the 2020-2021 school year. This cohort will meet 12 times throughout the school year and is led by a trained National Board Certified Teacher who will guide teachers through the process at no cost. Teachers can earn 24 Professional Development clock hours as they complete their National Board components. The state offers a subsidy to pay for all fees associated with becoming a National Board Certified Teacher (there is a one-time $75 registration fee – this is the only cost an eligible teacher will incur). Apply for the subsidy from September 1^st,2020 until October 11, 2020. Cohort support sessions begin statewide the week of September 13^th, 1010.

You can register to attend a live ZOOM webinar on Tuesday, September 8^th at 7 pm to learn more about this Illinois State Board of Education program.

If you have any further questions, contact nbrc@illinoisstate.edu.

Our Mission Statement, "Working with our communities to support student learning," focuses on three areas, Safety, Support and Success.

     

Licensure Renewal Information

Licensure renewal for all licenses due in 2020 will begin April 1st. This includes the Professional Educator License (PEL), the various Career and Technical Educator (CTE) licenses, the Substitute (SUB) license, and the Paraprofessional (PARA) license. It is recommended that EVERY licensed individual verify through their Educator Licensure Information System (ELIS) account if they hold a license that is only registered until June 30, 2020.  Documents to assist individuals with understanding the required PD for the various credentials, the instructions on how to enter PD into ELIS, and general renewal information can be found under the Licensure tab.