A family arrives for the first day of full attendance at Philip Rogers Elementary School in Chicago, on Aug. 30, 2021.
CHICAGO, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Students of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) went back to schools on Monday after 18 months of online studying since the COVID-19 pandemic erupted in the United States.
CPS is preparing for hundreds of thousands of students to head back to classrooms, the first complete resumption of in-person learning since the pandemic forced classes to go online in March 2020, Chicago Tribune reported Monday.
Different from the academic life in normal years, students will be masked; meals will be staggered between classrooms and cafeterias; and some students will be tested for COVID-19 once a week with a nasal swab as the pandemic still rages on.
While CPS has touted a variety of safety protections for the new school year, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), a few dozen elected officials and some parents say these measures need to be strengthened, as questions remain about how CPS will execute its testing program, how many positive cases could upend the in-person system and how simultaneous teaching will work if someone in the building gets infected.
While CPS employees are required to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 15, there is no such mandate for eligible students.
In a letter to CPS on Friday, CTU President Jesse Sharkey reiterated the union's proposal to increase vaccination rates through 100 school-based events per week, student home visits and incentives such as rental assistance and cash. Shots are available at eight school-based health centers and at vaccination clinics at four high schools, and CPS says there are plans for more mobile vaccination events.
About 45 percent of Chicago kids aged from 12 to 17 are fully vaccinated, according to city data from last week, while nearly 58 percent of them have had at least one dose. First graders and nearly all other elementary school students are too young for the shots.
CPS, officially classified as City of Chicago School District for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the third largest school district in the United States and has 340,658 students enrolled at the start of school year 2020-2021. Enditem
A student puts on a mask at Philip Rogers Elementary School in Chicago, on Aug. 30, 2021.
A woman helps a boy put on his mask at Philip Rogers Elementary School in Chicago, on Aug. 30, 2021.
A woman communicates with a girl for the first day of school to begin at Philip Rogers Elementary School in Chicago, on Aug. 30, 2021.
A student puts on her backpack for the first day of school at Philip Rogers Elementary School in Chicago, on Aug. 30, 2021.
Families arrive for the first day of full attendance at Philip Rogers Elementary School in Chicago, on Aug. 30, 2021.
A man holds a girl while waiting for the doors to open for the first day of full attendance at Philip Rogers Elementary School in Chicago, on Aug. 30, 2021.
A family arrive for the first day of full attendance at Philip Rogers Elementary School in Chicago, on Aug. 30, 2021.
