Cassie Walker Burke, Chalkbeat Chicago

The mask-optional announcement comes a week after Chicago Board of Education members approved a resolution to maintain COVID-19 safety mitigations, which include a mask mandate.

The councils’ authority includes voting on the annual school budget, approving the school academic plan and selecting and evaluating principals.

Shorter quarantine, a push for testing, school-level closures when cases rise: January has brought a round of changes to Chicago’s COVID-19 school safety protocols.

Teachers going into the vote said they had mixed feelings about the proposal, which the union's rank-and-file finalized with 56 percent in favor of resuming in-person classes.

At more than 200 schools, the opt-in COVID testing rates fall short of the city’s 10% threshold goal. At 70 schools, 10 or fewer students are enrolled in the school-based testing program.

The post-Thanksgiving spike in COVID-19 cases and the emergence of the Omicron variant could further complicate existing staffing problems.

The announcement comes two days after federal officials authorized the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.

Martinez's contract extends through June 2026. The school board votes Wednesday to formally appoint him.

The city's public health commissioner, Dr. Allison Arwady, said officials think vaccines should be available for kids 5-11 around the first week of November.

The contact tracing department will grow to more than 80 people and response time will be narrowed to 48 hours, CPS officials said.

Key student groups showed attendance lags — notably pre-kindergarten students and Black and Latino students.

Pedro Martinez, a graduate of Benito Juarez High School, took over as schools chief last week.

The oldest of 10 children, Martinez grew up in Chicago, attended Benito Juarez High and has three sisters teaching in Chicago Public Schools.

CPS leaders say they now aim to offer testing at every district campus by the end of September — roughly a month after its original goal.

Gov. JB Pritzker announced the bonuses Monday as part of a broader package of child care recovery efforts.

Many parents and educators still have questions about when families are notified about confirmed COVID-19 cases and how quarantine works.

The district had pledged voluntary testing for every school would be in place during the first week of the school year.

Unless full funding is restored, city officials say nearly 1,000 low-income children younger than 5 could be forced to transfer mid-school year to other programs.

About 10 percent of the district’s drivers resigned between Aug. 23 and Aug. 27, leaving the nation’s third-largest school district short about 500 drivers.

Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey said the union has no intention of blocking the start of the school year. But it will continue to “ring alarms” about what he described as safety shortfalls, he said.