By Brendan O’Brien
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Chicago schools have postponed in-person classes for another day for thousands of students after the third-largest district in the U.S. failed to reach an agreement with the teachers union on a COVID-19 safety plan.
Late on Wednesday evening, Chicago Public Schools told some 67,000 pre-kindergarten, special education, elementary and middle school students, scheduled to return to their schools buildings on Thursday, to continue virtual classes at home.
“We are disappointed to report that at this time, no deal has been reached between CPS and the Chicago Teachers Union leadership,” the district said in a statement to parents.
Chicago schools were to be closed on Friday for a non-attendance day for students.
The Chicago Teachers Union, which represents 28,000 educators, has been negotiating with the district for months over a gradual reopening of schools for the system’s 355,000 students. Teachers are demanding stronger safety protocols to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in classrooms.
Over the last two weeks, tension between the teachers and district intensified when union membership voted not to return to schools until a deal was reached. CPS chief executive Janice Jackson then threatened to lock out 13,000 educators from their online systems if they did not report to work.
The union responded by saying teachers would stop working altogether, form picket lines and strike if the district retaliated against any members who did not report to teach in school buildings.
The labor dispute in Chicago comes 15 months after the city’s teachers went on strike for 11 days over overcrowded classrooms, support-staff levels and pay.
After substantial progress on a deal was made on Monday, CPS called for a two-day cooling-off period as several issues remained unresolved.
The two sides had reached agreements on health and safety protocols, ventilation in schools, contact tracing and creating health committees.
As of Wednesday night, teachers and the district remained at odds on vaccinations for teachers and infection metrics used to decide when to close schools. Another sticking point was accommodations for teachers to work remotely if they have or live with people who have medical conditions, the teachers’ union said.
The district has been teaching students remotely since the pandemic forced it to close school buildings last spring. About 62,000 elementary and middle-school students signed up to take some classes in person starting this week.
An additional 5,200 pre-kindergarten and special-education students who chose the same option had been taking classes in their schools until last week, when the district canceled in-person instruction because of the dispute.
The district has not announced when high school students can return to schools.
(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Chicago. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
