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Chicago Public Schools Respond After Parents Protest Near Mayor’s Home

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Chicago Public Schools have responded after parents gathered outside of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s house. On the evening of Monday, Sept. 13, 2021, local parents gathered near  Lightfoot’s home to voice their opinion about remote learning. According to the parents, school classrooms are overcrowded and they feel remote learning should be an option for their children.

ChicagoThe COVID-19 pandemic has changed life completely. Many people feel remote learning should be one of those changes; or at least should be an option for them to have.

Recently, thousands of children have been sent home to quarantine due to possible COVID-19 exposure in overcrowded classrooms. However, upon going home they discovered they did not have access to remote learning. This has caused great concern for these student’s parents; How are their children supposed to learn?

Co-organizer of the rally, Cortney Ritsema, stated, “We want a remote option.”

We’re not comfortable sending them in person so we’ve been begging CPS for a remote option.

The Chicago Public School District responded in a statement saying, “The district’s contact tracing operation is working around the clock to … help … navigate instances of exposure.”

The district further stated they  gave their principals permission “to flip classes to remote learning while a full case investigation is being completed.” They added that they are working on the “contact tracing processes, increase staffing, and adapt to feedback from schools and parents.”

One parent, Maria Estrada, removed her 12 and 9-year-old children from Chicago Public Schools after her older child was exposed to COVID-19 on the first day of school. According to ABC 7 Chicago, neither child has been vaccinated.

Estrada believes if the school system “had better planning and put the CARES funds to use we wouldn’t be in this situation.” She is concerned there may be ” a superspreader event.”

Officials with the schools stated they have been cautious of the student’s safety; that is why they sent so many students home. Chicago Public Schools have been working on hiring 15 more contact tracers to help with the caseload.

Written by Sheena Robertson

Source:

ABC 7 Chicago: Chicago Public Schools responds after parents protest near Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s home; by Diane Pathieu

Inset Image by Daniel X. O’Neil Courtesy of Wikimedia – Creative Commons License

Top and Featured Image Courtesy of Eric Allix Rogers’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License

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