Thread by @BauerJournalism

CPS and the Department of Public Health will have a press conference at 12:30 p.m. where they'll talk about the district's plan to bring some students back to classrooms.

I'll live tweet. Follow for updates and let me know if you have questions.

blockclubchicago.org/2020/10/15/cps…

You can watch here: facebook.com/chicagopublics…

CPS CEO Janice Jackson: "... Our students' online experience has improved dramatically since the spring. However, it cannot replace education in the classroom with a highly qualified teacher in person."

Jackson: Youngest learners & special education students are not being served well enough with online learning. They need to be in a physical classroom, interacting with peers and learning from teachers. "This is an issue of equity, plain and simple."

Jackson: Our goal will be to reopen our school buildings for our most vulnerable students as soon as possible.

Jackson: "Providing in-person instruction to our most vulnerable students is truly an issue of equity, and we will do everything within our power to ensure these students are properly served."

Dr. Allison Arwady, head of CDPH: "The Chicago Department of Public Health as been focused on COVID cases in children and child-focused settings since very early in the outbreak. We have a dedicated child COVId investigational team at CDPH."

(Notably, Arwady is a practicing pediatrician.)

Arwady: "By and large, what we have learned related to children and to risk in schools and child care settings has been one of the few good news stories of this pandemic."

CDPH offers "full support" of CPS' plan, "even as we continue to monitor closely the current rise in COVID-19 cases in Chicago. Our whole response has been about following the science, adjusting our response as we learn more and limiting and balancing risk. This is no different."

Arwady: Data shows when proper precautions are taken, transmission in these settings is rare. Chicago kids in parochial/private schools "have actually had a lower rate of COVID, about half the rate detected in their counterparts in the community."

Arwady: "When we look at potential spread in these classrooms and school buildings, we have seen less than a handful of situations where we could not rule out transmission int he school setting. Where we have seen multiple cases at a school, for example, it is most commonly ...

"because siblings attend that school. We've seen much higher rates of spread in settings outside of schools."

Arwady: "We continue to learn about COVID, but study after study has found that U.S. day cares and schools with protection measures in place have not been as significant" a place of spread of COVID-19 as originally feared.

Arwady: "I have worked on many outbreak responses in my career. Outbreaks tend to bring longstanding inequities into the light, and their indirect effects can linger for years. ... As a pediatrician, I remain the most concerned for our youngest children and our children with ...

"special needs who, frankly, are the least able to access education through screens and have the most to lose."

Arwady: Severe cases of COVID are way down. Hospitalizations/deaths down about 90% from the peak in May.

The city's test positivity rate is at 4.8.%

Arwady: "I'm a pediatrician. If I thought this plan was dangerous, I obviously would not be supporting it."

Chief Education Officer LaTonya McDade: "Our teachers are definitely doing a phenomenal job with online learning, but it is not ideal for any student," especially the very young and those in cluster programs.

McDade: This is particularly hard for working families that don't have the ability to sit side-by-side with children during school hours.

Chief Operating Officer Arnie Rivera: There will be free testing and contact tracing. They're hiring 400 additional custodians. They've spent $3.5+ million for hand sanitizing/washing supplies. They've spent $2 million+ to buy disinfectant wipes.

Rivera: They've spent $65 million+ on facility improvement to promote proper ventilation. They're doing an assessment of every classroom to ensure they only use ones with proper ventilation.

Jackson: "Today, we released data about our enrollment for this current school year. This is the largest drop in enrollment that [CPS] has experienced in the last two decades." Far fewer pre-K students are enrolling — especially Black students.

blockclubchicago.org/2020/10/16/chi…

Jackson: They are retaining more students, but seeing fewer new students enrolling is "troubling" and they "must respond to that."

Jackson: The plans they make prioritize offering options to parents. She's heard equally from parents worried about sending kids back to classrooms and those who want their kids back in classes.

Jackson: They're looking to return older students to classrooms in early 2021.

Jackson: "I would hope that as we respond to these unprecedented times that we can do this collectively or as a family." This isn't the time for CPS and CTU to go back and forth; parents want solutions.

Jackson: "I'm also gravely concerned about the union's leadership almost inability or intentionality to not address some of the equity issues we're raising."

CTU has said they fear returning students to classes will be dangerous.

Jackson: "We absolutely plan to survey our parents and use this opt-out registration form ... . But we have to provide them with a plan and give them something to react to."

Arwady: "What we've seen is that in a city that is broadly mobile, where we have people living in one area and working in one area ... we really want to make sure that the plans that we put in place have the appropriate safety precautions for the community that surrounds them."

Arwady: "We are concerned about COVID across all of Chicago, and I don't want to give an impression that there are parts of Chicago that don't need to worry about COVID. So we are taking a full-city approach ... ."

Arwady: They watch not just cases but hospitalizations, ICU use, etc. "What we see is that there are settings around the country where, particularly if cases get out of control, positivity really gets out of control, often you can start to see some of those hospitalizations ...

"and death numbers lag behind it." Wisconsin, for example. "I have no intention of letting COVID-19 sort of rage out of control here in Chicago. We are monitoring this with concern and, if we need to pull back, we will."

Arwady: "Certainly, at the state level ... an 8% test positivity level has been determined to be a point of concern where the state will impose restrictions on businesses if a local jurisdiction has not already done that. Here in Chicago, we have at different points put ...

"stricter requirements in place ... . If we were to start getting above a 10% positivity, I would be very concerned about our ability to control COVID here in the city. But what's been interesting is we really have seen jurisdictions around this country continue to move ahead ...

"with very high positivity rates. ... But it's not just about the positivity number."

Arwady: "I'm concerned it would be wrong not to be thinking very carefully as we see numbers go up, but right now I'm confident we are still in a good place and it is the right time to bring it back to this conversation to be planning for a month from now, hoping we will ...

"absolutely be in a place to move forward" with in-person education.

Jackson: Our goal is to have a nurse in every CPS school; "right now, we are ramping up to that. ... Our talent department is working to hire enough nurses so we can have one in every school. We're not there yet."

Jackson: You can see data/info at cps.edu/school-reopeni….

Press conference over.