CPS reopening to start with pre-K, special ed next month; more students could return in January - Chicago Sun-Times

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The largest enrollment drop in over two decades and difficulties remotely teaching students with disabilities who require intensive support spurred a plan to bring preschoolers and some special education students back to school next month followed by the potential return of other students as soon as January, Chicago Public Schools officials said Friday.

In the meantime, all classes will continue to operate remotely at the start of the second academic quarter in early November with the school system’s youngest students and those in special education cluster programs returning soon after — if all goes according to plan.

Any decision to reopen schools during a pandemic, however, will come amid a concerning resurgence of COVID-19 in Chicago — Illinois recorded its highest single-day case total Friday — and the backdrop of Black and Latino families who make up 90% of the district suffering the hardest impact of the virus thus far.

While city officials promised they could safely facilitate a partial reopening, the Chicago Teachers Union reiterated its long-standing stance that it remains unsafe to resume in-person teaching under the current public health conditions. A union attorney Friday called the latest plan “ill-timed, reckless and illegal.”

“Though remote learning has allowed a great number of our students to safely continue learning in light of COVID-19, the fact of the matter is that it has also exacerbated social and economic inequities — preventing our youngest students, cluster program students and students of color from getting the high-quality education they deserve,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement.

“We are working on a thoughtful and strategic plan that lays a strong foundation for a return to in-person learning,” the mayor said. She added that schools and public health officials would work together to determine next steps “for our most vulnerable students.” District officials said they would consult with all other families later this year about interest in returning to school in January.

“CDPH closely tracks cases in all youth settings including daycares, camps, athletic teams, and schools, and the data shows us that when the proper precautions are taken, transmission in those settings is rare,” health commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said in a statement.

Lightfoot did not hold a news conference Friday to discuss her decision or answer questions. Schools chief Janice Jackson, Arwady and other schools officials are meeting with the press Friday afternoon.

A new virus tracker published on CPS’ website Friday shows 16 confirmed cases among 14 adults and two students have forced temporary pauses to school or CPS central office operations citywide. In all, there have been 177 such disruption-causing cases since the start of the pandemic, 69 of which have come since the start of this school year.

A day after the plan was communicated to CPS’ 500 principals and reported by the Chicago Sun-Times and other news outlets Thursday afternoon, CPS hedged its announcement Friday with the caveat that a return to classrooms remains a “goal,” and that a final decision will be made closer to the start of the second academic quarter Nov. 9.

CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates told reporters on a Friday morning call that the union is concerned about putting tens of thousands of students back into school communities where the COVID-19 test positivity rate remains above previously stated thresholds.

“We cannot experiment or take lightly the responsibility that we will need to see from our mayor and Chicago Public Schools as reopening plans are hatched,” Davis Gates said. “In fact, you cannot put together a plan in the dark of the night with only a few people that excludes our parents, that excludes our families, that excludes our educators, our practitioners and excludes our union.”

The union has been at the table with CPS since the spring negotiating a safe reopening but has said those discussions have not led to any substantive agreements. Earlier this month an arbitrator ruled in an unfair labor practice complaint filed by the CTU that CPS has not proven its buildings are safe for any functions that aren’t absolutely necessary. CPS is appealing that decision.

Particularly in special education cluster programs, it’s nearly impossible to practice social distancing, said Linda Perales, who leads a kindergarten through second grade cluster classroom at Corkery Elementary in Little Village that has 11 students.

“Many of my students require hand-over-hand assistance, many of them require assistance with toileting, assistance with feeding,” Perales said. “The needs of my students are so high that we have four special education assistants in our classroom. ... That is putting all of us at risk.”

The one-week person positivity rate in the 60623 zip code stood at 15.1% Friday, the neighborhood’s highest rate since early June.

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CPS reopening to start with pre-K, special ed next month; more students could return in January - Chicago Sun-Times
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