CPS Changes Position on COVID Testing

On Oct. 13, SEIU Local 73, Local 1, and CTU sent a letter to Chicago Mayor Lightfoot urging the city not to place unvaccinated school employees on unpaid leave if they didn’t meet the Oct. 15 deadline. Later that afternoon, CPS announced workers who aren’t fully vaccinated can instead undergo weekly COVID-19 testing until they get their shots. This change reflects the same extension Lightfoot made for City employees earlier in the week.

“Getting vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself, your family, and the students,” said Dian Palmer, President of Local 73. “We understand that the key to keeping everyone safe and schools open is by working together to ensure proper testing, providing workers with timely information about exposure to COVID, providing workers paid leave time when quarantine is required, and appropriate leave time to get vaccinated.”

The unions wrote, “Punitive enforcement of the vaccination policy in its current form will be ineffectual and will further destabilize already understaffed schools. We cannot have mandates without engagement, and without resources. Surely, you are also aware of the reluctance to vaccination that exists in Black and Brown communities, which is justified in the context of our nation’s history. We must educate and inform members of these communities, which are most in need of outreach, to dispel myths around the vaccine.”

District records show that, as of Oct. 13, 86% of CPS employees have submitted proof of vaccination.

CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said that he would focus on engaging with unvaccinated employees to better understand why they hadn’t gotten their shots and help nudge them in the right direction. He also indicated his goal is for all CPS employees to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 1, 2022, but isn’t setting a hard deadline yet.

For more information about COVID and vaccinations, please go to our COVID-19 Resources page.