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(WTTW News)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot told WTTW News Monday night she was “disappointed” that efforts to test all students and staff in Chicago public schools for COVID-19 got off to a slow and confusing start.
District officials have delayed full implementation of its testing plan, saying it won’t be in place until the end of September, more than a month after students return to school five days a week without no capacity limit.
At least 481 students have tested positive for COVID-19, potentially exposing up to 9,600 students, according to CPS data.
“I’m disappointed with the way this has been put together,” Lightfoot said Monday on “Chicago Tonight”. “In anticipation of the school opening, there should have been a much more robust plan and infrastructure in place.”
Lightfoot declined to say whether she held Jose Torres, the district’s acting superintendent since June, responsible for these failures. He is expected to be replaced by San Antonio Schools Director Pedro Martinez in nine days.
“It’s water under the bridge,” Lightfoot said. “We move forward.”
CPS officials also admitted they need to hire more than a dozen additional staff to contact those who have been exposed to someone who has contracted COVID-19.
Chicago Teachers Union officials also criticized the district’s security protocols, the way the district shared data on confirmed COVID-19 cases and said the mayor “is responsible for the appalling lack of security and the many COVID outbreaks in schools across the city. ”
Lightfoot’s remarks on Monday represent a departure from what she told reporters on Wednesday, when she said she “had heard an overwhelming majority, literally everywhere I go,” that schools were safe and that children were protected.
Lightfoot told reporters that all of the complaints came from supporters of the teachers’ union, which is pushing for a deal with the district that will require more safety protocols.
Dr Allison Arwady, chief of the Chicago Department of Public Health, will help the CPS improve its contact tracing efforts and case investigations.
“I have no doubts that things will get better,” said Lightfoot.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
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