Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the nation’s third largest public school district, said Wednesday that it will start the school year remotely, citing parents’ concerns about in-person schooling amid an increase of COVID-19 cases in the city.
CPS said in a statement that all classes will be held exclusively online for its 355,000 students throughout the first quarter of the school year, which is scheduled to start on Sept. 9 and end on Nov. 8. At that point, the district will re-evaluate the severity of the pandemic to determine if schools can move to a hybrid learning model that allows most students to learn in classrooms at least two days a week.
