Chicago public schools COVID test plan criticized as failure after just 2.5% of students opted for weekly tests

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CHICAGO (WLS) – A key part of Chicago’s public schools plan to safely reopen schools has come under fire.

The plan to reopen the CPS was supposed to offer weekly COVID testing to students and staff, but a CPS report shows they are having a hard time getting there, leaving parents frustrated and fearful.

Chicago Public School students are finishing their third week of class … but the security measures that were supposed to be in place to provide weekly testing for students and staff are not working as intended.

SEE ALSO | CPS COVID case: CTU criticizes Lightfoot for “deplorable lack of transparency and disinformation”

“It’s been a colossal failure and it’s so frustrating that they’ve had all summer to put this in place,” said Jessica Olson, CPS parent. “They’ve had all summer to do outreach to people, to community groups. They just didn’t bother to do it.”

Olson is particularly frustrated because her daughter, a second year student at Whitney Young High School, has just been told that a classmate has tested positive for COVID.

According to the CPS Dashboard, the district has tested 2,679 students and staff, with 406 positive cases, since the start of the school year.

WATCH: Political analyst looks into CPS COVID cases But the Chicago Teachers Union said part of the problem is that instead of using a system where students were tested automatically unless they opt out , the CPS has asked parents to opt in to have their children participate in the tests. As a result, only 8,600 students, or 2.5% of students, registered.

“Our frustration right now with COVID-19 testing in schools is at an extremely high level,” said CTU President Jesse Sharkey. “We had the board of directors basically, tacitly admit that the plan they initially made was completely inadequate.”

“Because this is a medical procedure, it is best that people choose to participate in the process,” said Dr. Maurice Swinney, CPS Acting Director of Education.

The CPS said part of the delay in testing was getting the required background checks from providers before they could enter schools.

“My heart goes out to families who are feeling frustration, that is definitely not our intention,” Swinney said. “But I don’t want to cut back on the district background check process because these testers will be going from school to school to test.”

For more information on COVID cases in the CPS, visit https://www.cps.edu/services-and-supports/health-and-wellness/covid-19-readiness-data/.

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