It’s possible Chicago Public Schools will cancel class Wednesday and Thursday.
CPS CEO Janice Jackson said school officials are monitoring the weather and will make an announcement by noon Tuesday about whether classes will be canceled Wednesday and Thursday.
If classes are canceled, parents will be notified via email and social media, she said.
“Student safety is our top priority,” Jackson said at a news conference Monday at the city’s Office of Emergency Management in the West Loop.
Along with Jackson, Mayor Rahm Emanuel gathered various department heads from across the city to talk about what’s being done ahead of the cold snap.
“This is an all hands-on-deck situation,” Emanuel said.
Lisa Morrison Butler, head of Family and Support Services, said city workers and nonprofit partners are shifting into overdrive in an effort to reach the city’s homeless population and make sure they’re warm.
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Rich Guidice, OEMC executive director, suggests staying home.
“We ask everyone to limit your time outdoors and work from home if possible,” he said.
Other city officials offered a litany of tips:
• Check on elderly neighbors or call 311 to request a well-being check.
• Call 311 to request a transport to a warming shelter.
• Never use an open flame to warm freezing pipes. Use a hair dryer or heating pad.
• Never use a stove or oven to heat a residence, and report landlords who don’t keep temperatures at at least 68 degrees during the day and 66 degrees at night.
And Streets and Sanitation Commissioner John Tully had this message to motorists after ensuring all plows and salt trucks were in use Monday morning: “I promise you a better ride home.”
