CPS extends COVID-19 test deadline after drop boxes overflow - Chicago Tribune
Chicago Public Schools said it has extended the deadline to Thursday for parents to return the district’s at-home COVID-19 test kits after photos circulated online Tuesday of drop-off boxes overflowing with packages.
“We are encouraged by the number of families who have submitted test kits so far. We are working with all partners to ensure a timely pick up of test kits at FedEx and libraries,” a CPS spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday that noted the district has added a drop-off location at the Garfield Ridge branch of the Chicago Public Library and will accept completed test kits at some libraries until 5 p.m. Thursday.
The district said it distributed test kits to 150,000 students at more than 300 schools in areas hit hard by coronavirus that also have low vaccination rates. Families were “strongly encouraged” to test students on Tuesday and drop the sample at their nearest FedEx drop box or library that day so results could be processed before students return from winter break next week.
But some parents encountered shipping boxes filled to the brim with packages on Tuesday. Jessica Martinez debated leaving her son’s sample at a FedEx drop box, where the overflow spilled out onto the sidewalk of a West Elsdon strip mall on the Southwest Side.
“It is scary to leave your box there. I had to kind of like tuck it in ... to make sure that it doesn’t get stolen or it doesn’t get misplaced,” said Martinez, who lives in the West Lawn area. “They should have added more locations.”
CPS said it will accept kits until Thursday evening at library branches in Englewood at 6151 S. Normal Blvd.; Garfield Ridge at 6348 S. Archer Ave.; South Shore at 2505 E. 73rd St.; Auburn Gresham at 7506 S. Racine Ave.; East Side at 3710 E. 106th St.; Austin at 5615 W. Race Ave.; and Altgeld Gardens at 933 E. 131st Place.
CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said earlier this month the Dec. 28 drop-off date was picked in consultation with health officials so results could be ready Friday. Students are set to return to classrooms Monday. Martinez pleaded with parents to take advantage of the test kits.
In social media posts, the Chicago Teachers Union said the test kit plan was “not well-thought-out” and called the drop-off troubles “bureaucratic failure and chaos.” The union plans to host free COVID-19 testing from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday at its headquarters at 1901 W. Carroll Ave.
At-home COVID-19 tests from CPS students pile up at a FedEx drop-off box on In the West Elsdon neighborhood. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
The union continues to call for a metric that would cause an individual school and the entire district to transition to remote learning. CPS reported its highest weekly new case count — 603 students and 373 adults — as it headed into winter break.
About 330,000 students are enrolled in CPS, but its online COVID-19 data does not include charter school cases.
In its Tuesday statement, CPS said the “safest place for students to be is in school, where mitigation is strong and clear protocols are being followed.” The district has expressed confidence in its indoor masking policy and weekly testing program that’s voluntary for students and mandatory for unvaccinated staff members — even as the union and some parents have said the protocols are not enough.
“We expect that classrooms, and sometimes schools, will be transitioned to remote learning, as we identify and manage the positive cases among staff and students. But we are confident that we can manage those decisions in an agile and responsive way,” CPS said in its statement.
Students who test positive for COVID-19 are directed to isolate for 10 days. The district said Tuesday it will work with health officials and the Illinois State Board of Education to evaluate quarantine guidance issued Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC announced it is shortening the recommended isolation time for infected people from 10 days to five days if they are asymptomatic. After that period, they should wear a mask for five days when around others.
On Dec. 17, the last day of school before winter break, about 9,000 CPS students were in isolation because they tested positive or in quarantine because they came in contact with someone who had, according to district data. CPS has been piloting a program that would allow unvaccinated students determined to be close contacts of an infected person to avoid quarantine if they repeatedly test negative.
Chicago Tribune’s E. Jason Wambsgans contributed.