Full-time, face-to-face learning nearly here
CPS students return to school Monday. We have answers to your questions about fall in-person classes.
Chicago Public Schools students are set to return to classrooms for in-person learning five days a week starting Monday. For some students, this will be the first time they set foot in a CPS building since the COVID19 pandemic took hold in Chicago in March 2020.
CPS officials say their coronavirus protocols — based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Illinois Department of Health and the Chicago Department of Health — pave the way for the resumption of full-time, face-to-face learning. But the start of school comes amid a surge in coronavirus cases city- and countrywide because of the highly transmissible delta variant.
Here we address questions students and parents may have about the fall.
Who has to wear masks, and when?
CPS says it is providing each student with three cloth face coverings at the start of the school year. The district said it is also distributing masks with slits to ensemble music students for use while playing an instrument.
Masks are required inside school buildings except while eating or drinking. This policy applies to students, educators, support staff and visitors, regardless of vaccination status. Parents seeking a mask mandate accommodation can have their children’s doctor fill out a form and provide documentation of their medical condition. School nurses will review the paperwork.
Face coverings may also be removed for outdoor activities such as sports.
Student-athletes may take their masks off while playing some indoor sports, such as swimming, diving, wrestling and water polo.
Dr. Kenneth Fox, CPS’ chief health officer, said some elementary school students may have to wear masks during recess. “If there’s any possibility of cohorts mixing, then we would have to have them wear the mask,” Fox said at an Aug. 17 virtual town hall for CPS families.
What if students don’t comply with mask rules?
Students caught not wearing a mask when they should be will be reminded of the rules, CPS said. If there are instances of deliberate noncompliance, an official misconduct report is generated for parents or guardians.
CPS says detention or suspension should not be a disciplinary action unless the student’s behavior “constitutes an ongoing threat to the safety of others, available interventions have been exhausted and the school consults with district/network offices to determine available options.”
What is the social distancing policy?
CPS says school administrators “will ensure” 3 feet of social distancing is maintained whenever possible. The Chicago Teachers Union has been pushing for the 6-feet standard that was once in place as part of its call for “maximum safety” measures while the delta variant fight continues.
“Even though the decision was made to go from 6 feet to 3 feet social distancing before the delta variant came on the scene, so to speak, that does not mean that masking doesn’t work at 3 feet for the delta variant, so we’re confident,” Dr. Marielle Fricchione of the Chicago Department of Public Health said at CPS’ Aug. 19 town hall.
The district says classrooms will be set up to accommodate social distancing. Some students will eat breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria, while others will dine in their classrooms. Students will be expected to maintain their distance during arrival and dismissal times and avoid gathering inside or around school buildings.
CPS recommends instrumental, choral and vocal music students stay 6 feet apart whenever possible as these type of performances are considered “high-risk activities.”
Who has to be vaccinated?
All Chicago Board of Education employees — which includes teachers, staff, central office workers, regular vendors and network employees — are required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 unless they qualify for a medical or religious exemption. Employees must submit proof of full vaccination by Oct. 15 or they will be ineligible to work until they provide this confirmation. CTU estimates 80% to 90% of its members are fully vaccinated.
The teachers union had called for 80% of eligible students — right now that’s people who are 12 years and older — to be vaccinated by October. CPS said it would like all eligible students vaccinated by Oct. 15, but has made no plans for a mandate. Nearly 45% of Chicago kids ages 12 to 17 are fully vaccinated, while 56.6% have had at least one dose, according to city data from Monday. It’s unclear how many of those kids are enrolled at CPS.
Vaccinations are available at various community events, and appointments can be made for shots at Chicago Vocational Career Academy, Theodore Roosevelt High School, Michele Clark High School and Richards Career Academy High School.
How will CPS keep its buildings and air clean? CPS set aside $100 million in federal funds in the 2021-22 budget for “significant” mechanical system upgrades at 17 campuses, with the most expensive fixes slated for Mather High School in West Rogers Park and Lindblom Math & Science Academy in West Englewood. Other schools have undergone renovation as well.
Every CPS school has a “hospital-grade” mister spray unit to apply disinfectant approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, the district said. Every classroom with students has an air purifier to “remove 99.99%” of airborne mold, bacteria and viruses, according to CPS. Ventilation and indoor air quality assessment reports for district schools can be found at cps.edu/airquality.
Hand sanitizer, soap and disinfectant wipes are said to be readily available, and schools will continue to have sneeze guards to protect staff when visitors arrive.
“Our custodians are there all day — morning and evening and throughout the day cleaning,” CPS Chief Facilities Officer Clarence Carson said at the Aug. 19 town hall. Still, concerns have been raised about the effectiveness of school cleaning crews.
Who will be tested for COVID-19?
Students and staff members will no longer
be required to undergo a temperature check or complete the healthscreener questionnaire to go into school buildings. CPS is asking staff and students to run through a health checklist before arrival instead. Parents or guardians are required to submit a form on a quarterly basis that says they screen their student for COVID-19 symptoms before sending the child to school. The first-quarter form is due Sept. 3.
CPS said it is committed to offering free weekly COVID-19 testing to staff and students whose parents consent to it. Employees with a documented vaccine exemption must get tested at least once a week throughout the school year, the district said.
Will athletes on school teams have to be vaccinated?
Student-athletes in grades 5-12 — the grades that are eligible to participate in extracurricular sports activities — will be required to either submit proof of COVID-19 vaccination or participate in weekly testing during their sports season as of Sept. 1. If an unvaccinated student-athlete is absent on the testing day for his or her school, that student must obtain an independent test outside of the school to return to play, CPS said. The district test is a nasal swab.
“We have done 140,000 COVID tests in schools since January,” Fox said at a town hall. “Kids don’t administer their own test, no, a trained professional does it. The results are sent to a lab. We contact people with the results once we know them, which really takes about 24 to 48 hours.”
Who has to quarantine if there’s a positive case in a classroom? And how will quarantined students receive lessons?
Students or staff members who test positive for COVID-19 must notify CPS through the district’s self-reporting form.
CPS has a team of 24 contact tracers who will investigate positive cases through phone interviews, Fox said. The quarantine
policy and the number of cases that would trigger a temporary stop to in-person learning continue to be debated by CPS and CTU.
The quarantine period is 14 days. CPS has said that fully vaccinated, asymptomatic people who came in contact with a person who tests positive should not have to quarantine, while CTU proposed the quarantine policy should apply to everyone regardless of vaccination status.
Union members also raised concerns about teaching quarantined and in-person students at the same time and called on the district to hire more support staff. CPS has laid out remote-learning plans that specify the amount of synchronous instruction quarantined students should receive.
District officials say they are leaving it up to individual schools to figure out how to execute these plans, which would be put into action if one or a few students are directed to quarantine or if the entire classroom is told to.
Educators are “strongly encouraged” to continue some of the best practices introduced during the last school year — when some students returned to classrooms after a lengthy pandemic shutdown, while others chose to continue learning at home.
“This is going to look a lot different than last year. I was in the building last year. We didn’t have very many kids there. This year we’re expecting all of our kids to return,” Mike Smith, who teaches at Englewood STEM High School, said Tuesday during CTU’s bargaining update.
“So if a kid in my classroom is quarantined, more than likely half of my class will be out. And then half of my class will be in, and I’m going to be responsible for teaching both sets of kids.”
Who is allowed to learn from home?
CPS’s Virtual Academy is for “medically fragile” students with certain health conditions. The deadline to apply for this full-time remote-learning
option — the only one available to CPS students — was Aug. 6, but CPS recently said it is still reviewing applications. At least 369 students have been accepted into the Virtual Academy.
Some CPS parents have been pushing for other remote-learning programs, but the state is requiring all Illinois schools resume in-person learning with few exceptions. CPS says remote instruction will not be offered to students who choose to stay home or who are unable to attend school for non-quarantine reasons. Some parents have threatened to keep their kids home because they are unhappy with the coronavirus protocols.
“If a student does not show up, (the school) will be calling every number they can find and working to reconnect the student to school. If that kind of process does not work, then we will once again go knocking on doors, doing home visits and other types of outreach that will help us find these students,” Erin Galfer, deputy chief of CPS’ Office of College and Career Success, said at Wednesday’s Chicago Board of Education meeting.
“If there’s any possibility of cohorts mixing, then we would have to have them wear the mask.” — Dr. Kenneth Fox, CPS’ chief health officer
What protocols are in place for school buses?
Students who are eligible for school bus service are required to wear masks on buses. CPS says bus seating charts will be implemented to help with contact tracing, while windows will be cracked to improve airflow. Students will be provided hand sanitizer before boarding.
“Like many school districts across the country, the district is experiencing driver shortages. However, we have prepared and planned for this possibility. We’ll still be providing transportation for all students who are scheduled for bus routes beginning Aug. 30 and beyond,” interim CPS Chief Operating Officer Lindy McGuire said at the Aug. 19 town hall.
Students who take CTA buses or trains to school will also have to wear masks onboard, as will student-athletes traveling on buses to competitions.