RYH Newsletter 7.14.21 | Boletín de RYH

Jul 14

Our weekly newsletter is now available in Spanish! | Subscribe to the RYH Newsletter.

Nuestro boletín semanal se ofrecerá ahora en español. | Suscríbase al boletín semanal de RYH por correo electrónico.

On Friday, July 9, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released their latest Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention in K-12 Schools.

Chalkbeat: CDC guidance for fall: Open schools, but unvaccinated students need masks

On the same day, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) adopted the CDC Guidance and the IL State Board of Education (ISBE) Superintendent, Dr. Carmen Ayala, sent this email with this declaration:

Beginning with the 2021-22 school year, all schools must resume fully in-person learning for all student attendance days, provided that, pursuant to 105 ILCS 5/10-30 and 105 ILCS 5/34-18.66, remote instruction be made available for students who have not received a COVID-19 vaccine or who are not eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, only while they are under quarantine consistent with guidance or requirements from a local public health department or the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Chalkbeat Chicago: Illinois quickly adopts CDC guidance for fall reopening

CPS sent this email to families on Friday night.

Previous to all of the above:

CTU’s Proposed Memorandum of Understanding was released on July 5 ahead of CPS and CTU meeting.

Chalkbeat Chicago: Chicago teachers union wants student vaccination target

On July 7, CPS announced student and family vaccination sites:

Sun-Times: CPS to offer students COVID shots starting next week, will ask their vaccination status next month

La Voz: CPS comenzará a ofrecer vacunas a los estudiantes mayores de 12 años y sus familias

Look out for communication from your individual school(s) via email and social media.

Looking for “Virtual Academy” info for SY2021-22?

NEW! Email address for questions: virtualenrollment@cps.edu

Find out more at the CPS webpage here: Virtual Academy. Your student must meet medical fragility requirements. You must apply by July 23. A licensed medical provider must submit the COVID-19 Health Eligibility Form.

Summer Meal Sites

USDA: Find Meals for Kids When Schools are Closed

IL List of Summer Meal Sites

CPS Grab-and-Go Summer Meal Sites

CPS Drops Proposed FY22 Budget

You can find the budget here. Scroll down for upcoming hearings (some details seem to be missing) scheduled for next week.

Chalkbeat Chicago: Chicago unveils a $9.3 billion school district budget with a focus on reopening, repairs

Condoms, Comprehensive Sex Education, & CPS

You may have seen this headline last week. Please read the entire article if possible.

Sun-Times: New CPS program puts free condoms in nearly every school — including elementaries

La Voz: Condones y productos de menstruación se harán disponibles en las escuelas de CPS

If you are interested in strengthening CPS sex ed via resources directed to educator training and parent/caregiver supports, please follow the incredible organization Healing To Action (HTA). One of their survivor leaders- who is also a CPS parent- was quoted in the Sun-Times articles linked above. The article was picked up nationally and the full quotes were not used. HTA issued this statement in support of the remarks made by their survivor leader. They also have this quick Twitter thread.

For more context and to backtrack a bit, this is worth a read:

Sun-Times: CPS’ new sex ed policy doesn’t address important needs, advocates say

It covers HTA’s advocacy leading up to and at the December 2020 CPS Board of Ed meeting. They did everything CPS has set up for "engagement", gave their important voices, and still were dismissed.

Want to learn even more? HTA is hosting Sex Ed Works Town Hall: Wed, July 21, 12PM. Find out more & register here.

#SexEdWorks is a campaign led by survivors of gender-based violence that is advocating for fully funded and fairly implemented comprehensive sexual health education in Chicago Public Schools. We see sex education as a tool for young people to learn healthy relationships, boundaries and self-advocacy.

Local School Council (LSC): SRO News + Event

Chicago Tribune: More Chicago high schools vote to remove school police, a year after George Floyd’s murder intensified calls to oust CPD from CPS

TONIGHT! LSCs Working Together: Monthly Q & A | Hosted by Lugenia Burns Hope Center

Wed, July 14 | 6PM | Register

SpEd: COMMENT | #NoGoCPS | SSCA/UER Resources | FRDC

Thanks to @ChicagoSpedPAC for sharing this on Twitter:

Find the proposed ODLSS "recovery services" policy here - and add public comment. This is Covid related comp ed for students with disabilities. What CPS has proposed is no different than the existing broken comp ed process, and will delay/deny needed services. Please provide public comment and express why the proposed policy is inequitable, inaccessible and discriminatory- CPS intends to leave students with disabilities behind. We can’t allow this.

At RYH we’ve been pointing out the discrimination in the HS application process for students with disabilities and have been talking to CPS about this for some time. Now it’s time for collective action. Email your alderperson to let them know about this issue.
If you have an 8th Grader with an IEP in CPS who you believe was denied opportunity for appropriate High School programs due to NWEA and grade cut scores (for either application or acceptance), we want to hear from you at bit.ly/NoGoCPS. More on this issue here.
We launched a new website in April and it is still a work in progress. Here are our most recent RYH SpEd Resources!
RYH teamed up with Equip for Equality for two information sessions (one in English and one in Spanish) on UER (Universal Enrichment Remedy) and SSCA (Student Specific Corrective Action). Free extra special ed services or reimbursement for extra services you already paid for?!? Yes! And did you know CPS has identified over 10,000 students to automatically get extra services to make up for their illegal special education actions in school years 2016-17 & 2017-18? It’s true! All of the resources from both events are here.
For parents looking for an advocate, we recommend the Family Resource Center on Disabilities. It is a federally funded not-for-profit organization that has a core mission to support people with disabilities and their families. They have special education advocates who will answer your questions, review your documents, even attend IEP meetings with you - all for FREE. The only thing that they ask is that you first attend one of their know your rights trainings, as that is the most efficient way to ensure parents are exposed to the basics. Their advocates are experienced and knowledgeable. The website is www.frcd.org.

BooksFirst! Chicago Looking For A School or Schools To Adopt

BooksFirst! is a collaboration of 5 Chicago area moms. For the last 8 years they have been delivering donated kids' books to underserved Chicago public schools. With no funding & no structure they’ve provided 75,000 kids' books to 53 Chicago Public Schools!

They are assembling their recipient school list for the forthcoming school year. Unfortunately, they do not have people to take books to schools, so educators/staff or parents would have to pick them up from their Northside drop off locations.

A BooksFirst! recipient school needs to have a minimum of 90% low income students, no library, and not enough books. If this is your school, educators or parents should send an e-mail to this address to discuss: booksfirst01@gmail.com