As cases of the highly transmissible omicron strain of Cpvid-19 continue to increase, the White House reiterated its support for keeping schools open across the country on Wednesday, Fox News informed.
As the Chicago Teachers Union held a vote late on Tuesday to return to full-time remote classes amid the rise in Covid-19 cases, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary once again mentioned the efforts of the Biden administration to encourage schools in their plans to continue with the in-person classes.
Psaki said that the Biden administration is in “frequent contact” with a variety of stakeholders on the topic of school reopenings and closures, including superintendents, state officials, principals, parents, teachers, and some other school personnel.
Psaki’s remarks came after the Chicago Teachers Union held a vote to reinstate the remote learning process, forcing classes to be canceled as of Wednesday.
The union’s members voted 73 percent in favor of no in-class learning until COVID-19 cases “significantly drop,” or until union leaders establish a safety protocol agreement with the district.
The third-largest school district in the US is the Chicago School District.
The district’s students had only returned to classes following a two-week winter break on Monday.
Officials from the Chicago Public School had maintained that keeping schools open for in-person sessions would be detrimental to children’s academic and mental health during the epidemic, but the union argued that schools did not have sufficient safety practices in place during the outbreak.
In the meantime, the White House claimed that the Biden administration provided additional resources to schools, including cash included in Biden’s American Rescue Plan, to help them implement mitigation methods.
On Wednesday, Psaki stated that the Department of Education has been working with all the districts across the country to supply resources, link school officials with the testing providers, and establish vaccine clinics and mental health support for pandemic-related issues.
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