CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A West Side school community will be speaking out Tuesday after the apparent COVID-related death of a mother of a student at the school.
Last week, 11 out of 17 classrooms at Jensen Elementary were in quarantine. Elected officials joined parents, students, and rank and file CTU members at Jensen last Wednesday to demand safety improvements that the mayor's CPS team continues to ignore.
Now, the Jensen school community is in mourning after COVID-19 claimed the lives of two mothers - a 47-year old and a 32-year old. According to the Chicago Teachers Union, both mothers had children sent home from quarantined classrooms and one of the mothers, Shenitha “Angel” Curry, 43, said on social media that she was never contacted by a contact tracer. Within a week she was dead.
Curry was described by family as “vibrant and outspoken” and Curry’s sister told the Sun-Times that Curry told her in her final days that she was sure her illness stemmed from Jensen Elementary School in the North Lawndale neighborhood. The school system denies that the eight COVID cases among students and staff at Jensen were passed along to anyone at the school.
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On Monday, teachers and other staffers at Jensen Elementary School wore black in the memory of the two mothers who lost their lives to COVID.
The Jensen Local School Council is holding an after-school Speak-Out for Safety at the school at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. CTU is asking the community to join parents and rank and file school members at the event.
Additionally, a GoFundMe has been created for Shenitha Curry's funeral.
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