Delayed by the coronavirus pandemic and including a mail-in ballot option for the first time, Chicago’s Local School Council elections look different from past years. The elections — which take place this week — are happening during a year in which the councils received new authority to decide whether to retain campus police.
Residents have a lot of questions about how the elections will work this year and why the councils are important. Chalkbeat Chicago has created this guide with frequently asked questions and a lookup tool so you can find an election near you. We also solicited questions for a conversation on Twitter Tuesday with our reporter Yana Kunichoff, freelance reporter Kelly Garcia, and LSC members and candidates Wiley Johnson, Maria Khwaja and Trina Reynolds-Tyler.
Here’s what we learned.