Trying to calm fears of coronavirus in the city’s more than 600 school buildings, Chicago Public Schools officials last week promised quick delivery of extra hand sanitizer, soap and cleaning supplies.
But the school system acknowledged Thursday what parents and staffers already knew first-hand: Some schools still have not received the much-needed supplies. And with a coronavirus pandemic bearing down while CPS keeps schools open, uncleanly schools could prove to be dangerous.
“Delivery of additional hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies to 600+ schools is ongoing,” CPS responded on Twitter to a concerned parent. “If your school does not see any by tomorrow (Friday), please follow up here via [direct message] with your school’s information.”
Abbey Hambright, the mom of a second grader at National Teachers Academy on the Near South Side, said she’s worried about the school’s cleanliness given CPS’ history of dirty buildings, and said she and her husband have considered keeping their son home if a deep clean isn’t done at NTA soon.
“If they’re keeping schools open they should at the very least disinfect them,” Hambright said. “We’re kind of torn if it’s the best idea to keep sending him to school especially since the risks are going up every day.”
A teacher at NTA wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday that the school was running low on disinfectant wipes and asked parents to drop off supplies. Another one at NTA reported that student bathrooms had only cold water for washing hands.
“It’s a concern that they don’t have these supplies and they’re reaching out to parents for donations,” Hambright said, adding that teachers shouldn’t have to be the ones providing cleaning products, either.
A teacher at Taft High School’s Freshman Academy, which serves more than 1,200 seventh- ninth graders on the Northwest Side, said no additional supplies from CPS had arrived by Thursday. All tissues and hand sanitizer at the school were donated by parents, and the teachers themselves bought cleaning spray.
“Students and teachers are anxious and worried,” the teacher said, asking to remain anonymous. “It is increasingly challenging to stay focused on academics.”
The Taft teacher said custodial staff are working hard but appear to be understaffed, and acknowledged that other schools with older, dirtier buildings are more at risk and might not have the privilege of parents being able to buy and donate supplies.
Another teacher at O’Keeffe Elementary in South Shore said the school has been running through bottles of hand sanitizer and is still waiting for more to arrive.
A CPS spokeswoman didn’t immediately comment on the situation.
