Chicago officials strive to 'keep all students healthy, safe' during in-person schooling

Students return to in-person learning after a year of online schooling because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some students, such as high school freshman Daja White, miss how school used to be before the pandemic.

“We are [socially] distant, but not as much as last time,” White said in an interview with Suburban Marquee. “It kind of does feel a little weird because we have to wear masks. It’s not normal. I would like for it to be normal, like how it was before [the coronavirus] even started. But of course, we can’t do that right now.”

A mask mandate by Governor J.B Pritzker impacts indoor sports, as all participating student-athletes and coaches must wear masks when indoors.

“My goal has always been to safely bring all kids back into the classroom,” Pritzker said last month in the Chicago Chalk Beat. “At the start of the school year and, crucially, to keep them there. Without these measures, we would likely see more outbreaks than in the latter half of the last school year.”

White lost her final middle school year because of the pandemic. She said she didn’t like being out of in-person school and missed her friends.

“I understood why we had to go out because of [the coronavirus] and everything, but I think they could have brought use back earlier,” she said.

Pritzker also placed a mask mandate on all Illinois schools on students and school staff in K-12 and early childhood care centers.

Alongside a mask mandate for teachers, Pritzker has mandated teachers get vaccinated as school returns.

A Center for Biosecurity Disease paper, "Mitigation Measures in the Control of Pandemic Influenza," recounted that when schools closed for a winter holiday during the 1918 pandemic in Chicago, “more influenza cases developed among pupils than when schools were in session.” 

“To close schools ... is not only impracticable but carries the possibility of a serious adverse outcome," the author concluded.

The 1918 pandemic claimed an estimated 50 million lives worldwide with approximately 675,000 Spanish flu-related deaths occurring in the United States, with a high mortality rate among children. 

Chicago Public Schools are not guaranteeing three feet of social distancing at all times due to school population and classroom constraints, José Torres, interim chief executive officer for Chicago Public Schools, wrote in a release.

“Our goal is to keep all students healthy and safe while they learn in-person five days a week with their teachers and peers so they can receive the education and supports they need and deserve,” Torres continued. “Based on widespread scientific consensus, we know that proven strategies like the ones announced will keep students healthy, safe, and supported.”