CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The alarm clock is going off earlier MONday for Chicago Public School students. This is the first day of classes of the new academic year for CPS.
This is the first day of what will be full-day, in-person learning five days a week for the Chicago Public Schools system's 360,000 students. Mayor Lori Lightfoot said enough COVID safeguards are in place to keep students and staff healthy and limit any coronavirus outbreaks.
'We believe that the schools are safe': Lightfoot says city ready to welcome students back full-time
Another issue will be the number of students unaccounted for the last school year. Officials say 30,000 students did not show up in-person or online for classes last year. Interim Schools CEO Jose Torres said there's an effort to track them down.
"The local school is a unit that will continue to support, reaching out to students and families, and central office is the back-up and we will continue to be providing all hands on-deck," he said.
All CPS employees are required to be vaccinated by Oct. 15. Additionally, the schools will offer COVID-19 testing for both students and staff.
"Our testing will be offered weekly for students and for faculty. As you know, CPS employees are required to have vaccine by October 15," Torres said.
Torres said the COVID tests will be optional for everyone except athletes.
