CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - For 330,000 Chicago Public School students, this is the first day of classes for the new school year, and it’s earlier than in years past.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Schools CEO Pedro Martinez kicked off the new school year at Falconer School on the Northwest Side, standing on steps outside the school and ringing old-fashioned bells.
“Happy first day of school everybody, happy first day,” shouted the mayor to the hundreds of students and teachers waiting to enter the building.
The CPS school year typically begins the day after Labor Day. Today’s start date is the earliest in memory and it’ll mean the school year will end in mid-June instead of late June.
Schools CEO Pedro Martinez told WBBM the early start to the new year will put students on the same semester footing as students in the suburbs, with the bottom line being they can actually enjoy their winter breaks instead of having to study for final exams during the break.
“Many of our middle school, grade students as well as our high school students…all of them were taking semester exams even after coming from the break, so you can imagine teachers having to review, students not being able to take a break,” Martinez said.
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Michelle Haylock’s son started kindergarten today.
“It is pretty early. So, I thought it would have been in September but I guess it’s probably kind of for the best that they started early,” she said.
Meanwhile, student transportation remains a thorny issue for many. There’s still a school bus driver shortage. CEO Martinez said students who require school bus transportation and signed up before the end of July do have assigned routes, although some routes are longer than they should be and will be tweaked in the coming weeks. CPS has offered $500 a month stipends to the families of diverse learners who do not have school bus transit, as needed.
There are also new COVID rules this year, and they include not requiring vaccinated students and staff to stay home for five days if they’ve been exposed to someone who tests positive for COVID-19.
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