'We Will Not Give Up This Fight': Some CPS Parents Demand Mask Choice
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A heated Chicago Public School board meeting shows the debate over COVID-19 safety is far from over, as the state and city vow to lift COVID restrictions in just a few days.
CBS 2's Marissa Perlman reports from CPS headquarters with the call from parents and what the big changes for the city come Monday, but for masking and vaccine status in CPS, it's status quo. This as some parents are still demanding looser restrictions.
"We will not give up this fight. We are filing the lawsuits and we are naming names."
Loud parent voices calling on the CPS board to lift COVID safety protocols for their kids.
"Parents want their children to be able to attend school without a mask. Parents want mask choice," said parent Christina Martinez.
The "Stay in School Coalition" wants to follow Indiana's lead- where students who are exposed no longer need to quarantine regardless of vaccination status. They also want to make masking optional. Their petition has a few hundred signatures. CPS serves more than 340,000 students.
"We want to make sure we are being extra conservative and extra safe," said CPS CEO Pedro Martinez.
But just days before the city will roll back COVID restrictions, the school board points to the student vaccination rate falling far below the city as to why their safety policy will stay.
As of this week, CPS students ages 5 to 11 are 30% fully vaccinated and 45% percent have one shot and for CPS students over 12, 57% are fully vaccinated, and 65% have had at least one shot.
But the city rate? Almost 69% of Chicago city residents have been fully vaccinated.
"We have schools where vaccination rates for our children are in the single digits," said Elizabeth Todd-Breland of the Chicago Board of Education.
The board said he data shows progress, but calls that progress slow. Testing is up with 64,000 handed out this week and the number of positive COVID cases are at its lowest point since Halloween.
But pediatric infectious disease expert at Northwestern, Dr. Tina Tan, said the student vaccine rate alone is still too low to go mask less.
"Yes, the rates are dropping," Tan said. "But it's not zero and were still seeing COVID in the community."
Though it wasn't mentioned today, it's important to note, universal masking is also a provision in the COVID safety agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union.
The board president did say there will come a day where CPS will be mask optional. The board said likely before the end of the school year- but said they don't want to be impulsive.