Dear Mayor Lightfoot, Board of Education, and CPS Leadership: We are deeply concerned about how ’ students and staff will safely return to school buildings for the remainder of the current school year and the foreseeable future. We wish for nothing more than the resumption of the key educational and social services that schools provide to the greater community. We recognize that the current remote learning system is difficult for students, working families, and the educational staff committed to them. At the same time, we also don’t want to put students in harms’ way, especially as other cities have encountered real difficulties in returning to in-person learning. Clearly, we need significant safeguards to consider that return. First, even with a hybrid school plan, remote learning must be improved. Device shortages continue, and the continued lack of reliable and sufficient broadband ac- cess remains a problem. We continue to receive numerous reports about students being dropped from Google classes or their internet freezing. More concerning is the screen-time schedule, especially for our youngest learners. Seven hours a day is simply too much. Students and parents are frustrated by the challenge of so much online time. We implore you to revamp the screen schedule and increase opportuni- ties for non-screen learning and physical activity. Other cities have made the shift, and we think the same should be done here. Second, a return to in person learning should recognize the disparate challenges with COVID-19 transmission across the city. Not every community has experi- enced the pandemic in the same way. As such, making a decision based on a city- wide measure for transmission may mean higher risk of spread in areas with high populations of essential workers, multigenerational families, and those at higher risk of serious complications, thus putting students and families at risk. We ask that you build flexibility for parents and families into any in-person return plan, includ- ing a clear remote-only option that does not penalize students and families for pri- oritizing their safety. Finally, given the airborne nature of this pandemic, any in-person return necessi- tates significant ventilation and filtration improvements as well as a real testing, tracing and isolation program. We have seen the statistics on CPS’s air quality as well as the recent arbitrator’s decision on CPS school safety. That information is deeply concerning. Only through short-term measures like room air purifiers and ensuring windows can open can we even consider a return. Over the long term, CPS must equitably invest in HVAC and filtration upgrades in schools across the city. Capital funding, including using TIF, is thus a high priority. With regard to testing and tracing, we believe that the City’s current approach is insufficient. The experience of several universities is instructive: rapid testing, backwards tracing to prevent “super spreader” events, and clear isolation protocols. The City must have the same resources in place for a return to in-person learning at CPS. We present these proposals fully aware of the difficult decisions we will have to make this year and next for the city, county, and state finances. First and foremost, we choose to invest in the health and safety of the Chicago Public Schools’ stu- dents. Signed Ald. Daniel LaSpata (1), Ald. Brian Hopkins (2), Ald. (4), Ald. (5), Ald. (6), Ald. (16), Ald. David Moore (17), Ald. (20), Ald. Michael Rodriquez (22), Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25), Ald. Rossana Rodriquez (33), Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), Ald. (40), Ald. (47), Ald. (49). Commisioner Brandon Johnson (1), Commissioner (2), Commisioner Alma Anaya (7) Rep (1), Rep. (2) Rep. (4), Rep. (5), Rep. LaShawn Ford (8), Rep. (9), Rep. Ann Wiliams (11), (Presumptive State Rep-Elect - 12), Rep. Greg Harris (13), Rep. (14), Rep. Lindsay LaPointe (19), Rep. Edgar Gonzalez, Jr. (21), Rep. Kambium Buckner (26), Rep. (27), Rep. Marcus Evans (33), Rep. Nicholas Smith (34), Rep. (39), Rep Jaime Andrade (40) Sen. Antonio Munoz (1), Sen. (2), Sen. (8), Sen. (10), Sen. (11), Sen. Robert Peters (13), Sen. Jacqueline Collins (16), Sen. Bill Cunningham (18)