Chicago Public Schools Moves To Mask-Optional Policy Starting March 14

Chicago IL

08 March, 2022

1:33 PM

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By Mauricio Pena, Chalkbeat Chicago: Chicago Public Schools will lift its indoor mask mandate for pre-K through 12th grade students and staff starting March 14 – a decision met with opposition by its teachers union, which cautioned the move would violate a safety agreement. On Monday, the district announced it would go to a mask-optional policy, aligning with updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which in late February recommended that school districts drop mask mandates unless COVID cases and hospitalizations in their region were high. Under the CDC's COVID Tracker, Cook County, which includes Chicago, has a level of transmission that is currently considered substantial. The change in the CPS policy will encourage students and staff to continue to wear masks, but allows parents and employees to decide whether to wear masks indoors, the district said in a statement. "CPS was one of the first to require universal masking in schools, and we would not be moving to a mask-optional model unless the data and our public health experts indicated that it is safe for our school communities," CEO Pedro Martinez said in a statement. "We will support our staff and students as we enter this new phase in the pandemic and continue to move forward together." As part of the change in mask policy, the district will continue other safety mitigations including on-site testing and contact tracing. In a letter to the mayor, the Chicago teachers union on Friday argued that lifting the mask mandate would violate a safety agreement that requires masking through the end of the school year. The agreement was forged after district officials canceled five days of classes when teachers walked out over safety concerns amid the rise of COVID-19 cases across the city. Moving to mask-optional would "undo progress" and "threaten the health and the safety" of a large swath of unvaccinated students on the South and West Sides, union president Jesse Sharkey said in a letter to the mayor. "If CPS moves toward making masks optional without bargaining to do so safely, this refusal to honor our agreement will have consequences," Sharkey said. About 30% of students 5- to 11- years-old are fully vaccinated, while 57% in the age group have at least one dose of the COVID vaccine. About 56% of 12- to 17-year-olds are fully vaccinated, and 68% of students have received at least one dose, according to latest figures from the district. Last month, Gov. J.B Pritzker battled in court to keep Illinois' emergency school mask mandate in place even as he lifted a mask requirement across the state. In February, a judge granted a temporary restraining order against masking, vaccination, and testing protocols in schools. Pritzker lost an appeal to get that judgment overturned. Pritzker said students and staff would no longer be required to wear masks at Illinois schools starting Feb. 28 after the Illinois Supreme Court declined to take up the case. Chicago follows other districts across the country, including New York City Public Schools, which lifted its mask mandate for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Children in pre-K and younger, who are not yet eligible to be vaccinated, must continue to wear masks at schools and day care facilities. In Chicago, parents on both sides of the debate have spoken up in favor or against masks in classes in recent weeks. The shift to mask-optional will be the first time Chicago will not require masks in school buildings since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. Mauricio Peña is a reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago, covering K-12 schools. Contact Mauricio at [email protected]. This story was originally published by Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization covering public education. Sign up for their newsletters here.