CHICAGO — Chicago Public Schools is requiring its employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 unless they qualify for a medical or religious exemption, the district announced Friday.
Employees without an approved medical or religious exemption who are not fully vaccinated by Oct. 15 will be ineligible to work until they are fully vaccinated and provide vaccination confirmation to CPS.
The mandate covers all Chicago Board of Education workers, which includes school-based teachers and staff, central office, regular vendors and network employees. The announcement comes just over two weeks before CPS is set to welcome students back for full-time, in-person learning starting Aug. 30 and as Chicago has seen a rise in coronavirus cases because of the highly transmissible delta variant.
“Our Chicago Public School communities deserve a safe and healthy environment that will allow our students to reach their greatest potential,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement. “This new policy enhances the district’s comprehensive reopening plan and ensures that students and staff can confidently learn in-person. Taking this step will further our citywide vaccination efforts and build on our progress in slowing and stopping the spread of COVID-19.”
Staff members will need to submit proof of full vaccination by Oct. 15 unless they have an approved religious or medical exemption. CPS representatives did not immediately provide a list of religious reasons or medical conditions that would qualify an employee for an exemption.
Employees who have not previously reported to the district that they are fully vaccinated must be tested at least once a week until Oct. 15 or until proof of vaccination is submitted. Testing will continue throughout the school year for staff with a documented exemption.
CPS is not alone in its mandate. California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced this week the state is requiring all teachers and school staff to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing. Companies in the private sector such as McDonald’s and United Airlines have also announced vaccine requirements for at least some of their employees.
According to CPS, 78% of its employees are fully vaccinated, partially vaccinated or had a vaccination scheduled as of June, with 67% reporting being fully vaccinated. But the district noted its data “may not tell a complete picture.”
Between 80% and 90% of Chicago Teachers Union members are fully vaccinated, CTU Deputy General Counsel Thad Goodchild told reporters in a virtual news conference Friday.
“Vaccines are the best tool we have to provide safety during the pandemic, to end the pandemic,” Goodchild said. “They protect not only vaccinated individuals, but all the people that vaccinated individuals come into contact with, including students under 12 years old who are not yet eligible for vaccines. So we’ve been fighting to get CPS and the city to do more in using the school system to expand vaccination program efforts.”
He continued: “It’s not our members that the city is having the most trouble getting vaccinated. It’s members of school communities and neighborhoods across the city who have good reasons not to trust local government, but they do trust the teachers in their schools. And CPS and the city need to accept our help, our members’ help in getting more Chicagoans vaccinated.”
In a statement, CTU said CPS and the city “must do much more” to ensure safety, such as establishing a “robust” school-based vaccination program.
“CPS’ response today to our formal proposal from August 10 mirrors the vaccination policy agreement we landed with Epic Academy Charter School earlier this week,” the union said.
The statement continued: “We urge the mayor’s CPS team to build on this safety standard by concretely addressing critical outstanding safety issues, and investing CPS’ and the city’s $4 billion in federal relief funds in what our students and families need to return to schools safely this fall, and for schools to remain open.”
CPS and the teachers union have been trying to iron out safety plans as they negotiate the terms of the fall reopening. Like the rest of the state, CPS is requiring students and staff members wear masks inside school buildings except while eating or drinking. The district noted it has provided nearly 20,000 vaccine doses to employees this year and continues to offer the vaccine to people 12 and older through standing vaccination sites and events such as Back-to-School Bashes.
“The science is clear: Higher populations of vaccinated people means better health outcomes in communities, safer places of work and public spaces,” Interim CPS CEO José Torres said in a statement. “This is the right move for the greater good of our school communities and will help ensure we have a successful and healthy school year starting on Monday, August 30.”
Kathi Griffin, the president of the Illinois Education Association, said in a Friday statement that the teachers union urged “educators to get the vaccine when it first came out so that students and staff could get back into schools.”
“We favor in-person learning above all else, as long as the learning environment is safe,” Griffin said. “Vaccines are the best path toward keeping the school environment safe.”
Whether vaccines are mandatory are decisions being made at the local level, Griffin said, and the union is encouraging its “local leaders to be involved in those conversations and to bargain around them.”
Wheeling School District 21, which is requiring all staff to be vaccinated with very few exceptions, is the only member district the union is currently aware requiring its employees to get the vaccine, Griffin said.
On Thursday, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said “more employers are considering vaccination policies, including mandates.”
“While we still believe the best way to increase vaccinations is through education and voluntary adoption, we want to be in a position to work with our employers on workplace vaccination policies, including how they’re implemented — so people who need to be vaccinated can get accommodations, so everyone has access to vaccines and time to get them, and so no one is penalized for medical or religious reasons,” Weingarten said in a statement.
“As educators, health care professionals and public employees, we play an important role in our communities, and the overwhelming majority of us are vaccinated,” Weingarten added. The CTU is affiliated with the AFT.
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