Students in the Chicago Public Schools system will be provided with the choice to go back to school in-person and full-time at the start of the 2021-2022 school year.
The district announced the plan Wednesday, allowing for students to go back to school full-time for the first time in over a year since the start of the pandemic, and the budget required to make it happen.
The budget plan calls for an additional $225 million, which the district said is needed to prioritize the needs of students in regard to keeping them safe from the virus and otherwise. More than a third of the funding, $85 million, is allocated to “address needs caused by the pandemic.”
“An unprecedented year has called for unprecedented investments in the lives of our students and our city’s future,” said Mayor Lori Lightfoot. “This budget is emblematic of CPS’s unwavering commitment to ensuring our young people have the educational, mental, and emotional supports they need to thrive today, tomorrow, and well into the future. I commend CPS for pushing through the challenges of this past year to continue driving equity-focused and inclusion-driven investments into our school communities.”
The budget includes $17 million in additional funds to increase the number of nurses, social workers, and special education case managers nearly five-fold, and there is an extra $16 million allocated to set up an additional 62 pre-kindergarten classes that will serve 1,200 more students.
It also includes more than $65 million in equity grants to support schools that are experiencing “community hardship,” and $32 million to help mitigate a decline in enrollment due to the pandemic.
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Ninety-four percent of schools in the district, 482 out of 513, will see an increase in their budget, the press release noted.
The Chicago public school district serves 341,000 students and is made up of 638 schools.
Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union have fought for months on steps that need to be taken before in-person learning can restart safely in the city. The union had repeatedly balked at plans from officials, saying they do not sufficiently keep teachers safe from the coronavirus.
