Chicago Teachers Union Vote Prompts Schools To Cancel In-Person Classes
The Chicago Teachers Union alleged that conditions were "unsafe" for in-person lessons, which resumed Monday. Meanwhile, Florida experienced thousands of absences of staff and students due to covid infections, and testing in California found hundreds of student cases before school reopening.
CNN:
Chicago Public Schools Cancels Classes After Union Votes To Go Virtual
The Chicago Teachers Union voted to teach virtually rather than in the classroom, triggering a cancellation of classes Wednesday which the school district leadership warned would happen if the union vote passed. CPS, the third-largest school district in the country, resumed in-person learning Monday in conditions union leaders described as unsafe as the Omicron virus variant sent Covid-19 cases soaring around the country. (Waldrop and Jimenez, 1/5)
Politico:
Thousands Of Teachers, Students Absent As Omicron Ravages Florida
Schools in Florida are reporting droves of absences among teachers and students this week, a sign that the highly contagious Omicron variant is already wrecking the budding new semester. With Covid-19 cases skyrocketing throughout the state, Gov. Ron DeSantis is pledging to keep schools open and in-person classes churning without any mask mandates or new restrictions. The DeSantis administration instead is messaging that asymptomatic people should resist being tested for the coronavirus as hundreds of students and teachers miss the first days of school in 2022. (Atterbury, 1/4)
Bay Area News Group:
COVID: Tests Find Hundreds Of Bay Area Students Infected Before Return To Class
The Oakland school district said Tuesday that teachers, students and their families had reported 21,000 results from at-home tests and identified 472 positive cases — 396 among students, 64 among staff and 12 among family members. Combined with other testing over the winter break, the district reported a total of 920 infections among students or staff. At Berkeley Unified School District, of 7,687 students and staff who uploaded test results, 227 of them had tested positive, public information officer Trish McDermott said. On-campus surveillance testing, available since the fall, turned up an additional six positive cases Monday, she said. “The at-home testing kept a lot of COVID out of our schools,” McDermott said. “Their positive status was determined before they set foot on a campus. We think that’s a system that works.” (Jimenez and Woolfolk, 1/4)
New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Archdiocese Of New Orleans Drops Masking In Schools As Omicron Cases Multiply
The Archdiocese of New Orleans has dropped a mask mandate for its Catholic schools in Orleans Parish, prompting questions and anger from some parents and health experts about whether it made sense to change the rule during the current surge in coronavirus cases. In a letter sent to parents Monday, Superintendent RaeNell Houston said that the quarantine and isolation policies in New Orleans Catholic schools for children and staff exposed to COVID-19 meet new city criteria that would allow the schools to end mask rules. She noted that children could still wear masks and that individual schools could also establish mandates "based on the number of infections and exposures." (Woodruff, 1/4)
AP:
Arizona Governor Wants Schools Open Despite Virus Surge
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Tuesday took what he called “preemptive action” to keep public school students in classrooms despite rising coronavirus hospitalizations as the more contagious omicron variant spreads. The Republican governor on Tuesday announced a program to give private school vouchers if their children’s schools close or move to remote learning. He’s using federal coronavirus relief funds, despite warnings from the U.S. Treasury Department that two earlier school programs he created are not allowed under the American Rescue Plan Act. (Christie and Davenport, 1/5)
The CT Mirror:
As COVID Rates Rise, State Remains Committed To Keeping Schools Open
As Connecticut’s daily COVID-19 test positivity rate reached 23.85% Tuesday, state leaders stressed their commitment to keeping schools open, despite school districts throughout the state using professional development days or inclement weather days to delay students’ return to classrooms due to COVID concerns. “I’m going to do everything I can to keep kids in classrooms safely,” Gov. Ned Lamont said. “Nothing compares to a great teacher in a classroom.” (Watson and Altimari, 1/4)
In higher-education news —
The Washington Post:
Colleges Scramble To Quarantine Students As Covid Cases Increase
Thousands of college students ended 2021 and will begin 2022 in isolation and quarantine as the omicron variant surges in the United States. For school administrators, the sudden outbreaks sparked logistical scrambles to get students swiftly and safely housed away from others. (Svrluga, 1/4)
AP:
Schools React With Various COVID-19 Rules As Classes Resume
Classes at the University of Missouri in Columbia start on Jan. 18, and spokesman Christian Basi said the school currently doesn’t anticipate any schedule changes. Furthermore, students will not be required to wear masks indoors, even if they’re not vaccinated. However, Stephens College, a private women’s college in Columbia, will return to remote learning for the first two weeks of spring semester, from Jan. 10-21, spokesperson Derrell Carter told The Columbia Missourian. (Stafford and Hollingsworth, 1/4)
