Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez said those staffers who are not fully vaccinated by Friday’s deadline must consent to weekly testing, but will not be immediately barred from working, as had previously been threatened.

Who would have imagined that students and their parents would be upset about not enough testing in schools? But that’s the case in Chicago, where the district’s been slow to roll out COVID-19 testing.

The policy change, which applies to unvaccinated students and takes effect Saturday, comes after more than 15,500 students were forced to quarantine during the first four weeks of the school year, but only 1.6% tested positive for COVID-19 after being exposed to the virus, according to officials.

Pedro Martinez, Chicago Public Schools’ new CEO, said Thursday the district will provide more COVID-19 testing and work harder to keep families in the loop on case information amid confusion and criticism through the first month of the school year.

The former Chicago Public Schools CEO is taking over a scholarship organization that’s promising to “redefine the education landscape” in Chicago.

Dr. Allison Arwady said investigators have not found any evidence that COVID-19 had been transmitted to students or teachers at Jensen Elementary School. “I know people are worried,” Arwady said. “The desire when something tragic like this happens is to pin blame on someone or something. But the blame here really belongs to the virus.”

Some Chicago public schools will retain their resource officers, following a split vote by the Board of Education to approve a one-year, $11 million contract with the Chicago Police Department.

The former San Antonio Independent School District superintendent now finds himself leading a district that is struggling to execute contact tracing and COVID-19 testing as students resume in-person learning.

State education officials say students who don’t have medical exemptions must be taught in school this year. But in Chicago, there’s still a standoff between the mayor’s office and the teachers union over what in-person learning should look like during a pandemic.

The Board of Education will vote this week on a one-year, $11 million extension to continue its school resource officer program despite an ongoing push from some students and advocates to have police removed from schools.

Disney II Magnet High School, Prosser Career Academy and Walter Payton College Prep are among the 325 schools recognized nationally for their “overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot told WTTW News on Monday night she was “disappointed” that efforts to test all Chicago Public Schools students and staff for COVID-19 had gotten off to a slow and confusing start. 

The Chicago Public Schools graduate and former CPS chief financial officer under then-CEO Arne Duncan is expected to take control of the nation’s third-largest school district later this month, becoming the first Latino CEO within CPS.

Most Chicago Public Schools students have now been back in the classroom for over a week, but some parents, teachers and students say they don’t feel safe from COVID-19 in school buildings — and they’re demanding access to remote learning. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and interim Chicago Public Schools CEO Jose Torres on Thursday unveiled a new Chicago Families Forward Fund, which they say will distribute more than $9 million in assistance to CPS families before the end of the fall semester.

Starting in January, students ages 7-17 can take up to five mental or behavioral health days off from school without having to provide a doctor’s note. Under the new law, students are referred to school staff for professional help after their second mental health day.