CHICAGO (WLS) While some Chicago Public Schools elementary students were able to return to in-person learning this week, high school students and parents wonder if and when they ll be able to do the same.
Nikolaj and Jovana Todorovski, both CPS high school students, are anxious to get out of the house and back into a real classroom after almost a year at the dining room table. It s not, like, the structure you have being physically in the building and you lose your motivation to do homework, sometimes participate in class, even turning on your camera is a big deal, Nikolaj said.
She said she has every confidence the district has prioritized safety for all. They did a great job. I feel 100% safe that my son is returning to school, she said.
For Joseph Williams, that s not the case. We still don t feel that is it safe enough just yet to send our children back to school, he said.
The father of five CPS students, ranging from kindergarten to high school, has opted to keep them all at home, wishing the return to school plan was staggered out grade by grade. I really felt that phases should have went maybe by grade levels, he said. Grade level by grade level, where you have opportunity to vaccinate teachers per grade level and take it as a slow process to working in.
Chicago school board considers giving CPS authority to make COVID vaccine mandatory for employment
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CHICAGO (WLS) The Chicago School Board is considering a rule that would give the head of Chicago Public Schools the authority to make getting the COVID-19 vaccine a condition for employment within CPS.
The school board is set to vote on the rule Wednesday. The rule would also allow CPS to call on employees to report to work in person.
The policy would give CPS CEO Janice Jackson the authority to possibly mandate the vaccine as a condition of employment. The Chicago Teachers Union is already pushing back, even though CTU spent months fighting for its members to receive vaccinations before returning to school.
Chicago Public Schools teachers are expected to return ahead of the reopening of classrooms. This comes following the deal made between CTU and the district.
Under the plan, students, teachers and staff will have a staggered return to their physical classrooms.
Pre-K and cluster students will return Thursday. Kindergarten through fifth grade returns on March 1 and sixth through eighth grade goes back on March 8.
So far, no date has been set for high school students to return.
Ebonie Davis and Tequila Singleton have children in CPS cluster programs. They say in-person learning is crucial to their kids development. She has goals and benchmarks that she needs to attain, Davis said. He would have more of a hands-on type of learning environment, Singleton said.
For families that didn t opt in for in-person learning, there will be another opportunity to opt in before the fourth quarter starts in April.