Crime & Law
CPS Cancels Tuesday Classes Amid Dangerous Cold
A resident walks down a snowy sidewalk in the North Park area on Dec. 22, 2022. (WTTW News)
Chicago Public Schools has canceled Tuesday classes amid dangerously low temperatures.
“We have been carefully monitoring the forecast over the past 24 hours, and have determined that given frigid temperatures predicted for tomorrow, and a Wind Chill Warning from the National Weather Service that wind chills that could reach -30 degrees, it will be unsafe for staff and students to travel to school,” the school district said in a statement.
After-school programs are also canceled Tuesday.
According to the National Weather Service, “dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills” are expected to continue through mid-week. Milder temperatures are expected Wednesday and Thursday, before the region receives “another shot of Arctic cold” toward the end of the week, the NWS said.
CPS said it expects classes will resume Wednesday.
The school district already made the decision to cancel after-school and out-of-school activities for both Friday and Saturday, due to the inclement weather. While there were no classes Monday due to Martin Luther King Day, all holiday events were also canceled.
Wet snow blanketed the Chicago area last week, which left several schools without power for a portion of the day Friday, according to CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, though he said most of those issues were resolved or alternate sites were found.
The Chicago Teachers Union blamed “decades of divestment and privatization” it said left the district unprepared for the weather.
“This snowstorm has made it clear there’s more to do when it comes to Chicago Public Schools building the muscle of partnering with the Chicago Teachers Union,” the CTU said in a statement Friday.
