Chicago Public Schools high school students will return to the classroom on Monday if teachers agree to the framework announced Thursday by the district and the Chicago Teachers Union.
Janice Jackson
LaTanya McDade, the second highest-ranking official within Chicago Public Schools, will leave the district at the end of the current school year after being named superintendent of Prince William County Public Schools in Virginia.
The first day of school in the next academic year will be Aug. 30, marking a shift away from the normal start date of the Tuesday after Labor Day. Aside from the new start date, the 2021-22 calendar does not change any other traditional components of the academic year.
Chicago Public Schools released a new “Healing-Centered Framework,” which it said is a first-of-its-kind effort that aims to expand behavioral health teams to every district school and offer trainings to existing staffers on how to address students’ trauma, anger and depression.
In total, fewer than 50,000 students have returned to the classroom, below the 77,000 initially estimated by Chicago Public Schools, according to new attendance data released by the school district Friday.
Chicago Public Schools officials say they've offered COVID-19 vaccine opportunities to all employees and hope to get everyone vaccinated by the end of the month, as the district hits the one-year mark since the pandemic forced the suspension of in-person learning across Illinois.
In a letter to parents and families Tuesday, Chicago Public Schools officials said their target goal is to bring back high school students on April 19, the first day of the fourth quarter of this academic year. But the teachers union says no agreement has been made for that date or any other.
“We’re super excited about the fact that at this point, all elementary grade students that want an option for in-person (learning) now have an option for in-person instruction, which is really good,” CPS CEO Janice Jackson said.
Some principals concerned over staffing shortages
Tens of thousands more Chicago Public Schools students returned to their classrooms Monday, many for the first time in nearly a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as the district continues its school reopening plan.
The Chicago Board of Education has approved a new measure allowing Chicago Public Schools to track which teachers and employees have gotten a COVID-19 vaccine. Down the line, it would allow the district to require vaccinations.
“We know that many high school students and families are eager to learn more about their return to in-person instruction,” CPS CEO Janice Jackson said Wednesday, “and it is our goal to provide them with a safe in-person option this school year.”
As a winter storm threatens the Chicago area with a foot or more of snow, Chicago Public Schools has announced it will suspend in-person learning for students Tuesday and only expects essential building staff to report to schools.
Now that Chicago Public Schools has reached an agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union over a safe reopening plan, CPS CEO Janice Jackson said she’s committed to using the framework of that deal to get high school students back into their schools.
Just after midnight Wednesday, the Chicago Teachers Union said 13,681 of its members voted to approve the tentative agreement with Chicago Public Schools, meaning the school reopening plan is now finalized and the city will avoid its second teachers strike in 15 months.
The Chicago Teachers Union’s governing body voted Monday night to ask its members to approve a deal that would allow in-person learning to resume at Chicago Public Schools for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic forced schools to close in March 2020 — and avert the second strike in 15 months.
https://news.wttw.com/2021/02/08/ctu-delegates-ok-deal-allow-person-learning-resumeMembers of the Chicago Teachers Union are reviewing the framework of a deal that would allow in-person learning to resume at Chicago Public Schools for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic forced schools to close in March 2020 — and avert the second strike in 15 months.
