CPS plans to fully reopen schools for in-person learning this fall

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago Public Schools announced Thursday they are planning to offer full time in-person classroom instruction for students in the fall.

CPS officials said that the plans to resume normal school for the start of the 2021-2022 school year is consistent with expectations set earlier in April by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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The district released their budget for the coming school year, which includes an additional $225 million to address the needs created by the pandemic and to support daily in-person instruction. District officials said the additional funding includes $66 million in Equity Grants to support "high-needs schools," $30 million in additional special education funding, $32 million to "mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on enrollment," $16 million to expand access to free full-day pre-K, and $17 million to increase nurse, social worker and case manager staffing at schools.

"An unprecedented year has called for unprecedented investments in the lives of our students and our city's future," Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement included in the budget's announcement.

CPS said that 94% of schools, or 482 out of 513, will see increases in their budgets as a result of the investment.

CPS high school students returned to part time in-person instruction on Monday, entering classrooms for the first time since March 2020. Elementary and middle school students returned to partial in-person learning earlier this year.