Chicago charter elementary school shifts to remote learning after 3 COVID-19 cases reported Monday
Nearly all the students at a Southwest Side charter elementary school will be in remote learning for the next two weeks after school officials said they were notified of three COVID-19 cases on Monday.
“On Sept. 13, Acero Schools became aware of three confirmed COVID-19 cases impacting three separate classrooms at Zizumbo Elementary School. The infectious source of these cases was not readily identified through contact tracing,” Helena Stangle, Acero chief strategy and external affairs, said Tuesday in a statement to the Tribune.
“In alignment with our (memorandum of understanding) with (the Chicago Teachers Union) and COVID-19 management protocols, the school swiftly transitioned to remote learning.”
The news comes less than a month after Acero, one of the largest charter school networks in Chicago, welcomed students back for full-time, in-person learning Aug. 19. The first day for Chicago Public Schools students was Aug. 30.
CTU characterized Zizumbo’s move to remote learning as the “first schoolwide shutdown in the district this year.” Fully vaccinated, asymptomatic students are allowed to attend the Archer Heights school in person, though Stangle acknowledged that “this is a very small segment of scholars” because children younger than 12 are not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.
The rest of Zizumbo’s students are equipped with Chromebooks and remote learning plans and provided breakfast and lunch, Stangle said. Those students are on track to resume in-person learning Sept. 28. Zizumbo has about 600 students, nearly all of them Hispanic, according to CPS’ website.
Zizumbo shares its campus with Major Hector P. Garcia M.D. High School and PFC Omar E. Torres Elementary, where in-person learning continues.
“While Zizumbo Elementary is a part of a tri-located campus, each school is located on a separate floor with separate points of entry for scholars,” Stangle said in her statement. “Additionally, Acero Schools deploys robust COVID-19 mitigation practices including universal mask-wearing, social distancing whenever possible, hygienic protocols, air filtration and purification devices, facilities cleaning and disinfecting practices, along with surveillance testing and contact tracing, to mitigate the risk of spreading COVID-19.”
CTU said its agreement with Acero calls for a schoolwide shutdown when there are three or more confirmed cases across three or more classrooms at Zizumbo within a 14-day period. CTU, meanwhile, continues to negotiate with CPS over a COVID-19 safety agreement for this school year. It’s unclear how many cases could spur a CPS school or the entire district to move to remote learning.
“Acero has an agreement in place with our union that holds charter management accountable — an agreement that came via collaboration and a focus on the safety of all stakeholders,” CTU President Jesse Sharkey said in a statement. “The lack of leadership at the top of CPS, however, in addition to the mayor’s failure to plan and protect, has many schools in near-crisis mode.”
CPS has been providing COVID-19 case numbers once a week via its online tracker, but the district’s data does not include charter schools like Zizumbo that are part of CPS but are privately managed.
