CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson announced Friday its Preliminary Reopening Framework that outlines the district’s current approach to bringing students back to classrooms if it is safe to do so on Sept. 8.
“This preliminary framework represents the next step in our community-wide discussion on how we ensure our children stay safe, engaged, and resume learning when our school year begins in September,” said Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot, in a statement. “Our dialogue will require that everyone’s voices are heard in order to arrive at the strongest possible plan for our students and school communities. COVID-19 has been unpredictable from the start, but whatever form this challenge takes, I want everyone to know that education and learning will be happening this fall.”
"We are gathered here to take the next step in our community-wide discussion on how we ensure children stay safe, stay engaged, and resume learning when our school year begins this fall," Lightfoot said. "We are starting that discussion with the release of the Preliminary Reopening Framework for the 2020-2021 CPS school year. This discussion, which will continue over the next few weeks, is critically important. CPS must and will continue to engage with the entire school community stakeholders, notably parents and teachers."
The Mayor said it is clear that nothing about the COVID-19 crisis has been easy - especially for parents. She said many parents were barely making ends meet before the COVID-19 crisis began and are now shouldering a "significant burden." And since then, the Mayor said, all at once have had to become their kids' teachers, TAs, tutors, and more.
"And I know as a parent of a rising 7th-grader myself," Lightfoot said. "This has been unchartered territory for all of us."
Mayor Lightfoot said the reality is "we have to be ready for any possibility. COVID-19 has been unpredictable from the start, and we have a responsibility to be prepared for what the public health indicators dictate - whether that means remote learning, in-person learning, or something in between."
She announced that Chicago Public Schools is evaluating a "hybrid model", which will combine learning from home and learning from school. Any model chosen must meet all health and safety guidelines, outlined by public health officials, like CDPH Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady. the Mayor said.
Mayor Lightfoot made it clear to all parents that "there will be options for you...this is a framework to serve as a jumping-off point for the next stage of engagement with the entire school community. We need your feedback in order to arrive at the strongest possible plan. That's why over the next two weeks, CPS will step up its engagement will all stakeholders in order to ensure everyone's voice are heard."
She said the benefit of the framework is that it offers flexibility to meet the unique circumstances of individuals and schools, while also being ready to activate full-time learning from home in the event public health officials determine at-school learning is not advised. The framework, she said, also builds on the lessons learned and investments made since schools first closed in March.
"This is a dialogue that will require all of us to confront a challenge that no one has faced before. And in doing so, we must look at the situation honestly and boldly and ask ourselves, 'What is the right path to make sure that our kids continue to learn, continue to progress, in a safe and nurturing environment?' Given that reality, we must do for our children and our school communities everything that we can to mitigate risks with every tool in our tool box. And the reality is, even in this room today, every time we wake up, and even in our home, there is risk. What our job is is to mitigate that risk," Lightfoot said. "I want every parent to know we are focused and determined to do everything possible to build a safe and nurturing learning environment for your children, whether virtual or hybrid."
The Mayor said that means having a plan in place for incidents of COVID-19 spread when they occur, and "they will occur." She said it also means that employers need to remain flexible for parents once the school year begins.
"The problem we are wrestling with is the same one that every school district across America is facing," Lightfoot said. "The good thing is that because of our city's discipline, data-driven, collaborative efforts we are in a far better place to confront these challenges compared to come of our peer cities across the country. But whatever happens and whatever form this challenge takes, I want everyone to know that education will happen this fall. School will happen this fall. And learning for our children, the lifeblood for their ability to learn, and advance, and progress will be happening this fall. And to our parents, we want you to know we are acutely aware of how challenging this circumstance has been for you...
"We understand and we hear you and we are doing everything we can to lighten your burden and ensure your children and your families have what they need to get the education they deserve in a safe and responsible way. To all of our teachers, we know also we have been asking a lot from you. We know you are stressed out and feeling the weight of this moment from every direction. And many of you are parents of school-aged children. And some of you fall into our vulnerable populations for whom the risk is most acute...My commitment, truly our commitment, is to continue listening, ensure your voices of teachers are heard as we continue down this path together."
She said same goes for principals and support staff - many of whom who have been working in schools during this pandemic.
"That's why we need the entirety of the school community to be part of this conversation," Lightfoot said. "It is critical that we all come together and work together to address the challenges for our kids and to keep everyone safe. That means all of us stepping up and doing the right thing in this moment, in this challenge in our city, just as we have done together over the last five months...
"We have to come together and make sure we are united in a single focus of making sure we live up to the commitment and obligation that we owe our children. We will work to get through this; I am confident that we will."
Chicago Public Schools is encouraging families to provide feedback on the Preliminary Reopening Framework during the next two weeks, which will inform final guidance that will be released in early August.
CPS' framework utilizes a "hybrid learning model", where most students will learn from home and attend school a limited number of days per week, as long as it is considered safe to do so based on latest data from public health officials. In alignment with guidelines from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), which encourages schools to provide in-person learning opportunities, the district’s hybrid approach would allow for a potential return to in-person instruction while limiting the number of people in school buildings to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
"This model allows many of our students to reap the benefits that they can only achieve through in-person instruction in front of a highly qualified teacher," said Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson.
CPS and the City of Chicago will be closely monitoring the evolving public health environment, and a final decision on reopening school buildings will be made in late August based on the health situation at that time.
In order to safely reopen schools, the district is also implementing rigorous public health protocols such as requiring masks, daily health screenings, temperature checks, and hiring approximately 400 additional custodians to help carry out stringent cleaning and sanitizing protocols across the district.
“Nothing is more important than the health and safety of our school communities, which is why we have spent months listening to parents and stakeholders and developing a draft reopening framework that prioritizes safety and high-quality instruction for all students,” said CPS CEO Dr. Janice K. Jackson, in a statement. “As the leader of this district and as the parent of two CPS students, I know this has been a challenging time for families. We aimed to create a draft framework that is flexible and capable of delivering high-quality instruction whether students are learning from home or at school. We look forward to gathering feedback from parents and staff so that we can finalize a plan that meets the needs of our school community.”
According to CPS, ISBE’s guidance strongly encourages school districts to provide opportunities for in-person instruction for students. The district’s Preliminary Reopening Framework follows health guidance and is designed to respond to the current public health needs and, if necessary, quickly transition to learning from home should the pandemic change its trajectory in Chicago or Illinois.
Adopting a Hybrid Model
In order to ensure that students return to school in a safe manner, the district will plan to implement a hybrid model, where most students will both learn from home and receive in-person instruction in schools, which will allow for approximately 50 percent of CPS’ student population to attend school in-person on any given day.
Given the diverse course scheduling requirements in grades 11 and 12, most high school juniors and seniors will learn from home full time, with schools encouraged to safely bring in juniors and seniors who need additional academic or social and emotional support, or students who are engaged in specialty programming, such as Career and Technical Education (CTE) programming that can’t be accessed at home.
Through a hybrid 2-1-2 scheduling model, each student pod will spend the same two consecutive days each week learning at school, the same two days learning independently at home, and each Wednesday they will participate in real-time virtual instruction with their classroom teacher. This model will allow students, staff, and families to maintain a stable weekly schedule while affording educators necessary time to plan for various instructional needs.
“Our framework is designed to maximize critical instructional time while prioritizing the health and safety of students and staff,” said CPS Chief Education Officer LaTanya D. McDade, in a statement. "As a next step, we are eager to hear and incorporate feedback from families to ensure we have the best possible plan in place to meet the needs of all students.”
What will instruction look like?
Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson provided an example:
"If a student is scheduled to learn in-person on any given day, before they even leave their home, they will be required to complete a health screener before showing up to school. At the beginning of the school day, we will stagger start times to minimize contact. Students will be assigned to pods of groups with no more than 15 students at a time and these pods will stay together with the same groups of teachers throughout the entire school year. They will receive instruction in assigned classrooms, in assigned seating, and each pod will be assigned its own individual classroom.
"Teachers and students will be required to wear masks all day and will have routine trips to the designated bathroom to wash their hands and use hand sanitizer. Areas of the school where multiple pods will engage, such as the lunchroom or gymnasium, will be cleaned thoroughly and disinfected in between use. And when the school day is over, students will exit the building with their assigned pods through designated doors.
"All in all, most pods will learn at school two days per week and then learn independently at home two days per week, and then we will have one day of real-time, virtual classroom instruction led by a teacher. Ideally this will be on every Wednesday when real-time, virtual instruction will be provided for our students. Our buildings will be closed so we can go through a thorough and routine cleaning so we can ensure the building will be safe for the pod that will be returning the following day."
Enhanced Standards for Hybrid Learning At-Home and In-Person
In order to stabilize the educational experience for students who will be learning from home and from school, the district will be enacting new requirements for learning based on ISBE guidance, including ensuring each student is participating in a minimum of five hours of instruction or school work per day, developing an attendance tracking model for students, transitioning to e-learning on Google platforms district-wide, and implementing additional measures to further improve the educational experience. Additional details on new learning expectations and improvements will be outlined in early August as part of the final reopening framework.
As part of the hybrid model, the district will continue to work with schools to identify and provide computing devices to students who still need them, and through Chicago Connected, the district will extend hotspot coverage for Students in Temporary Living Situations (STLS) and expand free, high-speed internet access to 100,000 CPS students.
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Keeping Students and Staff Healthy Through Stringent Protocols and Resources
Collecting Feedback to Finalize Reopening Plan
More than 50,000 parents responded to the survey and the district conducted over 25 focus groups of students, parents and staff to gain insight into expectations and needs for the fall. This critical input helped the district develop this framework, and direct feedback from stakeholders will continue to guide decision making going forward.
From the survey and focus groups, CPS found, overwhelmingly, families want increased hygiene protocols, clear direction on learning expectations, and a lower student-teacher ratio as part of our plan. Families also have a strong preference for hybrid schedules (compared to a full return), because they lower the student-teacher ratio, effectively creating smaller class sizes during in-person instruction.
CPS found families favored social and emotional skill building and virtual mentoring when presented with potential options for supports to meet their children’s needs.
Finally, parents want transparency. They want the district to provide them with clear rationales for decision making, and they want us to create spaces for both receiving information and providing feedback.
To gather feedback specifically on the preliminary framework, the district has launched a new survey and will hold five stakeholder meetings.
Families, students and staff should submit feedback by July 31, 2020. A link to the survey can be found here.
The district will hold five meetings (three in English, two in Spanish) on the following dates. Participants must register in advance to participate.
Date: Monday, July 27, 2020Time: 9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Language: EnglishRegistration Link: https://cpsreopeningconversation1.eventbrite.com
Date: Tuesday, July 28, 2020Time: 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.Language: SpanishRegistration Link: https://cpsreopeningconversation2.eventbrite.com
Date: Wednesday, July 29, 2020Time: 9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.Language: SpanishRegistration Link: https://cpsreopeningconversation3.eventbrite.com
Date: Thursday, July 30, 2020, Time: 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.Language: EnglishRegistration Link: https://cpsreopeningconversation4.eventbrite.com
Date: Friday, July 31, 2020Time: 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.Language: EnglishRegistration Link: https://cpsreopeningconversation5.eventbrite.com
Chicago Public Schools serves 355,000 students in 642 schools. It is the nation’s third-largest school district.