CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The city of Chicago released a plan Tuesday on when Chicago Public Schools students will return to the classroom.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the Chicago Department of Public Health and Chicago Public Schools announced Tuesday that all students will learn remotely through the end of 2020. Pre-kindergarten and students enrolled in intensive and moderate cluster classrooms will return to in-person learning on Jan. 11, 2021, and students in grades K-8 will return on Feb. 1. A return date for high school students has yet to be announced.
CPS said while the district is prepared to safely offer in-person learning at this time, consistent with schools across the city and country, including at private and parochial schools in Chicago that have seen low incidence of school-based transmission, beginning in-person instruction in January will minimize disruptions as students transition back to schools while allowing students to quarantine following the holidays.
The district said far too many CPS families, particularly Black and Latinx families on the South and West sides, have not been served well enough by remote learning, and opening classrooms beginning with our youngest and highest-need learners will help ensure greater access to high-quality instruction this year.
“While remote learning has allowed many of our students to continue their studies over the past eight months, the reality is that our Black and Latinx students, our youngest students and highest-need learners have not been equitably served,” said Mayor Lightfoot. “The decision to begin in-person learning this January will restore their access to high-quality instruction and is the result of balancing our commitment to equity with our current public health situation. The health of our students, their families and our school communities remain our top priority, and we will continue to work closely with CPS and CDPH to ensure their safety as they transition back to the classroom.”
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Although cases of COVID-19 are rising in many areas, numerous states in the U.S. and countries in Europe are keeping schools open because mitigation strategies have proven to be successful, CPS said in a statement. Classroom-based learning is critical to the overall academic and social-emotional development of students and prolonged school closures cause long-term negative consequences while exacerbating inequities. Further, schools have not been found to be a significant source of COVID-19 transmission.
“It’s our moral imperative to do everything in our power to safely open schools beginning with our youngest and highest-needs learners, and the decision to re-open in January will ensure that Black and Latinx families — many of whom are essential workers and cannot ensure their children are fully supported through remote learning — have more equitable access to instruction this year,” said CPS CEO Dr. Janice K. Jackson. “While we are eager to open our doors as soon as possible, beginning in-person learning in January is the right decision because it will minimize learning disruption from planned breaks and allow time for students and staff to limit activity prior to resuming in-person learning.”
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CDPH, in consultation with CPS, will continue to track the spread of COVID-19 using several important data metrics it watches on a daily basis.
“We’re in the midst of this second surge right now and there’s no doubt the trends we see are very concerning. We want to get to a more stable place with community spread before bringing students and staff back to school,” said CDPH Commissioner Allison Arwady, M.D. “Once we do see more stability, even if case rates remain relatively high, I’m confident in-person learning can work and be safely done.”
While the CDC and other public health authorities have not required schools to implement testing plans, the district will be utilizing a comprehensive COVID-19 testing strategy. To support students and staff who are symptomatic or have been a close contact of someone who tested positive, CPS and CDPH will facilitate access to free testing through either established primary care providers or city partners. And to help identify any undetected spread of COVID-19, school-based staff members will be tested regularly through a surveillance testing plan that is in development and will launch in time for the return of in-person learning, CPS said.
Additionally, the district issued an opt-in form in October to parents of pre-k and students enrolled in cluster programs to determine if they wanted to return to school in-person or continue learning from home. Later this month, the district will provide all parents of students in pre-k and moderate and intensive cluster programs with the option of changing their decision, regardless of which choice they made this fall. Parents who have not changed their decision do not have to make an additional submission. Opt-in forms will also be sent to parents of students enrolled in grades K-8, which will return on Feb. 1.
After the submission deadline, parents who choose in-person learning can change their decision to remote learning at any time, while parents who choose remote learning will not be able to opt-in to in-person instruction until a later date in order for the district and schools to properly plan to safely welcome students.
High school students who learn in general education settings will continue to participate in remote learning and the district will evaluate in-person learning options for those students in 2021.
The Chicago Teachers Union has opposed reopening schools because of the vulnerability of teachers and supporting staff.