CPS says at board meeting it aims to reopen high schools by end of school year
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago Public Schools officials said Thursday plans are in the works to get high schoolers back in classrooms before the end of the school year.
CPS CEO Janice Jackson told the Board of Education that meetings with the Chicago Teachers Union over those plans starting soon. Jackson said the district and the union are establishing a joint High School Task Force, in a process that formally began last week.
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The task force will work to create a plan to bring older students back to in-person learning with student, staff and teacher safety in mind.
Jackson said she hopes to have high schoolers back in classroom this spring.
RELATED: Chicago teachers approve tentative deal to reopen CPS classrooms, CTU says
CPS and CTU were locked in negotiations for months over plans from kindergarten through eighth grade students to return to classrooms. The initial start date of in-person learning was pushed back when teachers refused to return to their classrooms, citing COVID safety concerns and a demand for prioritized vaccination.
Students in K through fifth grade return to in-person learning on Monday, March 1. Students in grades six through eight will return to classrooms the next week.
