More than 91,000 students have registered for Chicago Public Schools鈥 free, weekly COVID-19 testing program, officials said Tuesday, but there are still about 50 schools that have not received enough sign-ups from unvaccinated students.
鈥淥ver 90% of our schools have the minimum 10% of unvaccinated students (signed up) for testing, so we鈥檙e not going to stop until we get that number to all 100% of our schools,鈥 CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said Tuesday at a COVID-19 news conference.
As part of the聽聽CPS reached with the Chicago Teachers Union last month, the district and the union agreed to work together to persuade more students to sign up for the in-school testing program. Around 41,000 students had registered for the testing by the end of December, when the omicron variant was starting to make its presence known in Chicago.
The testing news comes as CPS has reported a drop in COVID-19 cases among students and staff and聽. The new policy, which aligns with guidance from the state and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, allows students to return to classrooms after five days if they are not experiencing symptoms.
