Live updates: Omicron Variant in Chicago

It’s the third day of canceled classes for Chicago Public Schools students and frustration is growing on all sides.

Chicago Teachers Union members voted Tuesday to temporarily work until Jan. 18 amid a surge in COVID-19 cases. They want additional safety measures in schools.

In response, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and CPS CEO Pedro Martinez canceled classes, calling the refusal to work in-person illegal and unnecessary. They say schools are safe and think reverting to remote learning should happen only on a school-by-school basis.

Here’s the latest:

• The mayor Thursday night said CPS and the teachers union bargained from noon into the evening on Thursday. In a statement from the mayor and Martinez, they described the sessions as “productive.”

• Talks are expected to continue on Friday.

• CPS had hoped to offer in-person activities at some schools on Friday, but most don’t have enough staff to provide anything. The school district told principals they could provide academic enrichment if between 20% to 60% of staff reported to schools. Only schools with 70% or more staff could offer instruction. On Thursday, just 13% of teachers reported to schools. CPS provided school-level data on staff reporting to each building.

• While many parents support the push for remote learning, many other parents want their students back in school buildings. An online petition supporting CPS’ decision not to revert to remote learning had about 2,700 signatures Friday morning.
  

• Meanwhile, in a rare public statement, more than 100 principals and assistant principals called out Martinez in a letter published by the Chicago Principals & Administrators Association.

The administrators accused Martinez of blindsiding them with the plan to open individual schools on a case-by-case basis starting on Friday based on whether they had sufficient staff and resources.

In part, the letter read, there “should not be an ad hoc reactionary response that creates inequities that are predictable among social and economic lines. Instead, it feels as if the district’s approach was more focused on eroding the trust we’ve worked so hard to develop by pitting schools, principals, parents, and staff against each other than on actually providing safety and support for students and communities.”

The administrators said this is not the plan CPS officials had shared with them in meetings on Thursday and pits schools against each other, principals against teachers and hurts under-resourced schools.

Also a survey by the principals association on Monday found that 75% of 255 principals that responded support a move to report learning for a week or two. CPS has 512 district-run schools and 636 total schools including charters and other nontraditional schools.