CPS Announces New School Calendars After Strike

The strike may be over, but Lake View students aren't missing out on classtime.

Chicago Public Schools announced revisions to this year's calendars that ensure students benefit from a full school year and also meet the terms of the tentative agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union. Changes to the calendars will recapture the seven days of instructional time that were missed during the union’s strike.

“Every single day counts," said CPS CEO Jean-Claude Brizard. "These changes to the school calendar ensure our students continue to benefit from more quality time in the classroom in front of our teachers. With this calendar, we're preserving the Full School Day and year and the tools and support our students and teachers need to drive academic achievement." 

The original 2012-2013 calendars were designed to help boost student achievement by increasing the number of full school weeks by 30 percent and adding 10 additional student attendance days. The calendar revisions announced Friday include 11 additional student attendance days, bringing the total number of student attendance days to 181. Changes to the calendar proposals include: 

• President’s Day: President’s Day (February 18, 2013) will be converted to a day of student and staff attendance as a make-up day. Teachers will receive this day back as a paid holiday at the end of the fourth quarter. CPS encourages schools to use President’s Day as an opportunity to acknowledge the contributions made by the Presidents of the United States by educating students on their roles in our country’s history. 

• Professional Development: Teachers will receive six half days and seven full days of professional development for a total of 10 professional development days. The seven full days of professional development will be non-attendance days for students and the six half days will be half days of attendance for students.  

• Report Card Pick-Up: Report card pick-up days will not be days of student attendance.

• Make-Up Days: Due to the CTU strike, seven make-up days have been built into the revised calendars.

It is important to note, that Columbus Day on Oct. 8 will remain a student and staff attendance day. Starting next year, Columbus Day will not be a student and staff attendance day, as outlined in the tentative agreement reached with the CTU. 

The breakdown of make-up days for Track E and Track R include:

Track E Make-Up Days:

Five days from Fall Intercession: October 15-19
President’s Day: February 18
One day added to the end of the school year: June 19

Track R Make-Up Days: 

Two days from Winter Intercession: January 3-4
President’s Day: February 18
Four days added to the end of the school year: June 19-21, June 24

The Chicago Board of Education granted temporary authority to CEO Brizard to make necessary changes to the calendar. Authority has been granted through the next Board meeting. The newly revised calendars can be found on the school district's website.  

Credit: Chicago Public Schools