'Families were not comfortable': Chicago schools scrap plan for partial reopening

“It was evident that our families were not comfortable with the state of the pandemic and the national response,” she said.

“Although our families expressed how much they wanted to return to their school communities and how much their students missed their friends and teachers, they did not feel this was the right time,” Jackson said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Chicago schools were planning to have students attend classes two days per week to limit the number of students in the classroom with the remaining instruction continuing online, something the Chicago teachers union opposed. That plan allowed parents to have a student opt out of in-person instruction fully, which many parents signaled they would do in the survey.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot acknowledged that many parents will struggle to maintain work while supervising their children at home. She said she made the decision roughly one month before the school year begins on Sept. 8 to allow families to make plans for managing the new system.

“We also understand the struggle this will be for many of our parents who have to manage work, child care, and all the other needs at home, which is in part why we’re making this announcement now,” she said.

Chicago is one of many major school districts to opt to remain online this fall. The Trump administration has been advocating for schools to reopen. The American Academy of Pediatrics also advised schools to reopen with a goal of full-time, in-person instruction.

[Opinion: Larry Hogan is right: Let the schools reopen]