Here's the agenda for today's meeting: cpsboe.org/content/docume…

Meeting is starting now. Here's the link: youtube.com/watch?v=tQTFUr…

A few members of the Board are present at CPS headquarters, though the meeting is still remote.

President Miguel Del Valle reads a statement on behalf of the Board.

"We've heard from folks who believe we should open schools immediately, and those who think we shouldn't."

"The board wants [the District] to reach an agreement with CTU. A strike would be [detrimental] at this time for students and their families."

He shares that it's the Board's interest to reach an agreement and reopen schools.

He adds clarity to a resolution that they're voting on today saying that it would *continue* giving full authority to District leadership over the current reopening plan.

Now moving onto honoring excellence, presented by Chief LaTanya McDade.

The student they're honoring today is Hayley Orlinsky, 7, who has garnered national attention after raising $27,000 by selling friendship bracelets for Lurie Children's hospital to respond to PPE shortages.

Now hearing remarks from CEO Janice Jackson.

She shares her concerns about not being able to reach an agreement with CTU "despite meeting over 60 times." Yesterday, CPS asked pre-k/cluster parents to keep their kids home after CTU asked members to continue teaching remotely.

She adds that some improvements have been made to the current reopening plan including more surveillance testing in schools in the case that someone tests positive.

"Not many other schools have gone to the lengths that CPS has," says Jackson.

Some more updates:

CPS was able to reach an agreement with Local IOUE 399, representing building engineers.

Next month, there will also be four new vaccination centers at schools for all individuals in phase 1B.

"The goal is to vaccinate everyone," says Jackson. She adds that employees also have the opportunity to get tested twice a month.

"Right now, 90% of schools are fully ready" to welcome students and teachers.

Moving onto remarks from Chief Education Officer, LaTanya McDade.

Updates include:
- completion rate for college applications went down this year by 20% "not just in CPS, but across the country"

Board member Amy Rome and student Tia Hawthorne give an update on the initiative to hear from students via roundtable discussions about policies related to school choice.

The first discussion happened last month.

Now hearing from Chris, a student at Simeon Career Academy, who participated in the roundtable discussion.

"My main thing was that if I had more preparation, I would've chosen a better school." Though he adds that "Simeon is the best school" 😂

Chris adds that students shouldn't pick a school based on ranking, instead they should choose it based on whether they like it.

Board member Lucino Sotelo asks Tia and Chris what things the Board can do to help improve the process of school selection.

"If you can give more information about the programs that each school offers ... that would help the process."

Board member Elizabeth Todd-Breland asks Tia and Chris what short-term changes the Board could do to improve the school selection process.

Tia suggests that policy changes might have to wait until more feedback from students can be taken into consideration.

Todd-Breland asks what other topics students will be discussing during these roundtable discussions and Board member Rome shares that students will continue discussing school choice for the next few months.

Board member Revuluri asks how more people can participate in these roundtable discussions.

Tia shares that they plan on live-streaming the discussions to increase accessibility. Board member Rome adds that CPS has already created opportunities for more student involvement.

So now we're moving onto public participation. Per usual, union reps and elected officials will go first. Each public speaker has 2 minutes.

Starting with @CTULocal1 president Jesse Sharkey

He starts by saying that CTU and CPS share a common goal of returning to in-person instruction safely. But he says that things got off on the wrong foot.

Despite meeting 60 times, no one from District leadership or the Mayor's Office ever showed up, says Sharkey. He also adds that the responsibility to reopen schools falls directly on the Board of Education.

"You cannot accomplish a safe reopening with force when you fail to do it with persuasion," says Sharkey. He adds that he hopes an agreement can be reached soon.

Now hearing from @TroyLaraviere representing the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association.

In a survey they conducted for principals, he says that only 28% agreed that CPS provided sufficient support.

One of the comments was that "there was 200 pages of guidance, but no staff to make it happen."

Additionally, 64% of principals agreed that reopening was not safe right now.

So in response, CPAA created their own plan.

The plan includes:
Step. 1 - open a small group of 50-100 pilot schools and make vaccination available to that staff

Step 2 - Provide resources to ensure the success of those schools

Step 3 - Slowly expand the group once it's proven that it's safe.

"You're not attempting to open SOME K-8 schools, you're attempting to open ALL K-8 schools," says LaRaviere.

CPAA's plan would slowly phase in schools which Troy says would be safer. "This plan comes from a group of people who have never left the schools," he says.

Board member Todd-Breland asks what collaboration is looking like with principals.

CEO Jackson says that there has been a lot of communication with principals. She also adds that CPAA's plan makes sense and that CPS plan is similar in that it also slowly reopen schools.

CEO Jackson says that "there is robust data" and numerous reports that proves schools in Chicago can reopen.

She adds that the District has provided supplies for staff to safely reopen schools but that "we can't make everyone get vaccinated." It's a choice.

President Del Valle asks Jackson why a principal wouldn't immediately report a positive case at the school.

Jackson says that she hasn't been given a particular name but that they have good communication and an "excellent relationship" with principals to prevent this.

Proceeding with public comment.

The first speaker is Matt Major, policy manager with the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, speaking in support of a contract renewal for two charter schools that the Board will be voting on today.

The next speaker is @JiananShi with @ILRaiseYourHand.

He shares concerns for special education students as it relates to the current reopening plan. Specifically, he says that this plan would hurt the SpEd students the most.

He also adds that the District hasn't done their job in including parents in discussions around reopening and has, instead, limited their power. He also adds that over 100 LSCs have passed resolutions demanding a delay to reopening but that the District has ignored them.

The next speaker says that Kellogg Elementary needs serious facilities improvement, especially a working heating system.

The next public speaker is a parent speaking in support of Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL).

She says that she has seen the positive growth in her son from participating in this program.

The next speaker is a parent of a special education student demanding that parent voices have equal weight to that of CTU and CPS.

She expresses concern for CTU's efforts to continue teaching remotely saying that it pits teachers against parents.

The next speaker is a student at Jones College Prep speaking against the District's decision to remove the one asynchronous day in the remote learning (RL) plan.

He says that as a student body they've collected over 200 testimonials and are demanding greater RL flexibility.

A few public speakers now have spoken in support of a contract renewal with Alain Locke Charter School and Urban Prep Charter.

A parent of a 1st grader is currently speaking asking who represents parents in CPS.

He says despite differences among parents across the city, they have a shared interest in wanting to advocate for their kids. He urges CPS and CTU to reopen schools.

The next 3 speakers representing the North Lawndale Community Action Council urge parents in North Lawndale to join their organization to discuss plans on creating a new STEAM academy, which was recently postponed after parents and community spoke out against it.

Another parent spoke in support of reopening schools, urging CPS and CTU leadership to listen to parents.

The next parent is an LSC member sharing concerns they have for the reopening plan.

They say that subs can't cover SECAs (SpEd classroom asst.) who can't come in which will disrupt services for both remote/in-person students.

The next parent starts off by saying that "the same reason Miguel Del Valle lost the race for Mayor is the same reason we're asking CPS to not reopen because we don't trust them."

She further adds that CPS can't even get nurses for all the schools.

She continues by saying she is embarrassed by Del Valle for "being Hispanic and not listening to families and teachers."

She also adds that Jackson is nothing different from former CEO Forrest Claypool and that the Board of Education is just a rubber stamp.

Another speaker is a parent and also a researcher at Northwestern University who says he warned CPS nearly a year ago today about the pandemic.

He says the current reopening plan does not provide adequate testing nor proper protocols for staff shortages.

Another parent speaking against the reopening plan says that CPS was cherry-picking publication reports to use as metrics for reopening.

"Following the incomplete plan to reopen will harm students," she says adding that this plan adds to school segregation and inequity.

The final speaker says that before the pandemic, Black students were already experiencing systemic violence.

She asks how CTU is advocating for Black students when most of their rank-and-file members do not reflect the student body. She demands CTU to stop the misinfo campaign.

Now hearing from Aaron Ortiz, state rep for the 1st district.

"The majority of parents in CPS have elected to keep their kids at home," he says. CPS has time to improve their reopening plan, he says. He shares that other school districts have vaccination plans for staff.

Now hearing from Michael Rodriguez, Alderman of the 22nd ward.

He seconds Ortiz's remarks. He's urging a NO vote on the proposed contract for the impact evaluation, which he says the community was not told about.

Public participation is now over.

In response to the comments, Member Todd-Breland says that there is a lot of pain in this city.

"Everyone is exhausted," she says adding why it's important to reach an agreement. "The government, generally, has felt like a failure."

She says that it's important to reopen schools because, as a public institution, they have a responsibility to meet the needs of families who need schools open.

Board member Truss says to parents and families, "don't wait to be invited to the table."

He emphasizes that the Board has been listening to parents and that even CEO Jackson has made an effort to listen to the community via roundtable discussions.

Board member Revuluri says in response to public comments that "we may disagree, but we don't need to demonize."

He says that, as a CPS community, we have to ask ourselves what do students need the most right now.

We're now moving onto presentations.

The first presentation is on recommendations for charter school renewals.

The renewal process looks at academic performance, financial performance, and operational performance for each charter school.

There are three schools that are up for renewal. The first school is Alain Locke Charter School which is meeting and exceeding standards.

The next school is Little Black Pearl Art and Design Academy which is currently not meeting standards for financial and operational performance. Renewal is being recommended for a two year term.

The final school is Urban Prep Academy for Young Men in Englewood. Currently it is not meeting any standards in all the categories. However, they note that the pandemic has made it worse for them to meet standards.

They are recommending a 1-yr renewal w/ benchmarks & conditions.

Failure on Urban Prep to meet those standards means in a year they could cease operation.

Board members are now asking questions. Todd-Breland asks what conversations have happened with school leadership at Urban Prep.

Howell says that there has been open dialogue with school leadership but that there are still many concerns.

Now moving onto the reopening updates presentation from Chief McDade.

In the updates to the reopening schools, McDade says that 25% of school-based staff will be offered tests every week and that vaccinations will be prioritized to staff in hardest-hit communities.

McDade also says that the proposal includes expanding accommodations for staff seeking to continue working remotely.

Additionally, the plan also includes criteria for quarantining if transmission occurs across three different pods.

Here's a snapshot of attendance data during the first week of in-person learning for pre-k/cluster students. https://t.co/uqrKQGik9c

Here's the attendance data, specifically looking at racial demographics. https://t.co/l3hqZz0CZ0

Here's the attendance data broken down by priority group https://t.co/juHbVhCm1d

Here's the visualization on how learning model preferences (remote or in-person) has changed. https://t.co/j8gmrHaGXv

Now hearing from Arnie Rivera about stakeholder engagement. He says Family and Community Engagement (FACE) has conducted thousands of interviews with parents and that an overwhelming amount are interested in returning their kids to school.

Here are the number of additional custodians needed (and hired) for buildings getting ready to open again. https://t.co/KlULnXtDEU

Now hearing updates on the health and safety aspects of the reopening plan including the District Surveillance Testing program and the vaccination rollout plan.

Over the coming weeks, CPS is working to create 4 vaccination centers across the city and they will be sharing more opportunities to get vaccinated as they arise.

Board members are now asking questions. Rome asks Dr. Frichionne from the Chicago Dept. of Public Health (CPDH) to talk about how educators are being prioritized & the recent updates from the CDC

Frichionne gives credit to the new administration for publishing data, not opinion.

In regards to teacher priority in the vaccination rollout plan, Frichionne says that they've been working hard to create an equity framework. She adds that our current positivity rate (6.6%) is at the lowest point its been since early November.

"Anyone in phase 1B can reach out to their medical provider to see if they available vaccines," says Frichionne. "Currently we only have enough to cover 1% of phase 1B per week."

Member Todd-Breland asks for clarification on the vaccination rollout plan in Chicago since teachers in other IL districts have gotten vaccinated before teachers in Chicago

Frichionne says that we are funded under a different jurisdiction because of how large of a city we are.

Frichionne adds that Gov. Pritzker has been helping in urging the federal government to supply Chicago with more vaccines, but that right now they're also working on ensuring that providers are properly (and swiftly) giving out vaccines.

That concludes the presentation. The Board will now be voting on items in the public agenda.

All items on the public agenda requiring a vote unanimously pass.

All items from the Board and delegable reports requiring a vote unanimously pass.

All items on the executive agenda pass unanimously. Meeting has been adjourned at 2:40 p.m.

Thank you to everyone who followed along! As always, follow @CHIdocumenters for coverage on local government meetings. The next BoE meeting is Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 10:30 a.m.