COVID safetyChicago Public SchoolsState Government

Is your Chicago class in quarantine? Tell us about it.

By 
Cassie Walker Burke
 | January 20, 2022, 7:05pm UTC
Students wearing face masks sit at desks behind plastic shields in a Chicago classroom with a yellow, cream, and black checkerboard floor and a blue wall. They are working on laptop computers as a teacher wearing a white top watches.
A fourth grade teacher at Miles Davis Magnet Academy in Chicago teaches some children math from the classroom while communicating with others who are learning from home in the spring of 2021. (Cassie Walker Burke / Chalkbeat)

The omicron peak may have passed in Chicago, but COVID continues to disrupt education in the nation’s third largest school district and in districts across Illinois. 

Chicago Public Schools as of Wednesday reported the highest daily total yet of children in quarantine: 15,413, bringing the total to 16,545 once staff quarantines were factored in. Schools chief Pedro Martinez said the district was looking to reduce its quarantine period from 10 days to five in line with recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state school board.

The state does not keep a public tally of the number of school children in quarantine. 

Just 40% of eligible children are fully vaccinated in Illinois; under state guidelines, vaccinated children may return to classrooms after exposure but unvaccinated children must learn from home. 

Quarantine orders have forced schools to re-introduce remote learning, juggle classroom assignments, and scramble on substitutes. 

How have they impacted your household? Tell us in the survey below. Your answers could inform our coverage of this issue.

If you are having trouble viewing this form, go here.

The Latest
Trump administration targets CPS plan to support Black students citing federal civil rights law

Federal investigation targets Chicago schools’ long-awaited Black Student Success Plan. State law mandated the Chicago Board of Education create a plan to “bring parity between Black children and their peers.”

By 
Becky Vevea
 | April 29
Universal preschool enrollment is high, but program has few guardrails on quality, report finds

Colorado ranks third in the nation, after Washington, D.C. and Vermont, for the share of 4-year-olds served in its state-funded preschool program.

By 
Ann Schimke
 | April 29
The key question in the St. Isidore case: Are charter schools actually public schools?

Backers of a proposed religious charter school argue that charter schools are more private than public. The Supreme Court case could upend the charter sector, with implications for funding, autonomy and more.

By 
Erica Meltzer
 | April 28
Cellphone bans, artificial intelligence, and untying test scores from teacher evaluations are just some of the education issues Illinois lawmakers are considering

The Illinois legislative session is scheduled to end on May 31. Lawmakers are considering several education bills and negotiating the fiscal year 2024 budget. Here is what Chalkbeat is following.

By 
Samantha Smylie
 | April 28
Students with disabilities could be hit hardest by federal education changes, advocates say

Advocates warn that transferring federal special education oversight to another department could weaken enforcement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and other disability rights laws, while jeopardizing funding, research, and implementation.

By 
Jessie Gómez
 | April 28
COVID did a number on student math learning. These Tennessee school districts buck the trend.

Some districts invested pandemic relief money in instructional coaches and increased time spent on math. Test scores suggest that strategy’s paying off.

By 
Steven Yoder, The Hechinger Report
 | April 28