Five strike makeup days CPS recommends would shorten holiday, summer breaks

Chicago Public Schools officials on Tuesday announced five makeup days to this school year’s calendar in the wake of the Chicago Teachers Union strike that claimed 11 days of classroom time.

The proposed makeup days cut into students’ holiday breaks and tack an extra two days onto the end of the school year. They’re scheduled for:

• Wednesday, Nov. 27;

• Thursday, Jan. 2;

• Friday, Jan. 3;

• Wednesday, June 17; and

• Thursday, June 18.

The last day of the school year for students originally had been scheduled for June 16.

District officials said their scheduling options were “severely limited” because they had to be made up on days for which teachers and staffers wouldn’t otherwise have been paid.

“We understand that modifications to the school calendar can create real challenges for our families, and we have worked to add makeup days in a manner that prioritizes student learning and minimizes disruption to the fullest extent possible,” CPS chief education officer LaTanya McDade said in a statement.

“Care was taken to schedule multiple days in advance of key academic milestones, including spring AP exams, while also preserving as many scheduled breaks as possible and not extending class beyond the final week of the school year.”

CTU leaders called the proposed schedule “petty,” arguing the district could have rescheduled end-of-quarter professional development days and used those instead of shortening the winter break.

The Board of Education has to vote to approve the calendar change. They’ll do that at their next meeting Nov. 20, when they’ll also vote on the tentative agreement that ended Chicago’s longest teacher strike in three decades.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia / Sun-Times

Dozens of CPS parents teed off on social media about the timing of the makeup days.

Courtney Ritsema said her family’s plan to head out of town for Thanksgiving were thrown up in the air now that her first grader is expected to be at New Field Elementary in Rogers Park on the Wednesday before the holiday.

”My immediate reaction was, ‘How can they do this?’ “ Ritsema said. “Most families like us already have plans for the holidays. Plane tickets, arrangements with family members. This is pretty inconvenient.”

Ritsema, who is a member of New Field’s local school council, said she’s also concerned about the impact the makeup days could have on the school’s budget next year.

”Parents are going to do what they’ve already had planned, so those days when it’ll be low attendance, that’s going to really negatively affect our schools,” she said.

The makeup days proved to be the final sticking point in the work stoppage, leading to another day of canceled classes even after the CTU had hammered out a deal with the city. Mayor Lori Lightfoot initially refused to hand over any makeup days while the union wanted 10, with both sides eventually settling on five to end the strike.

CPS said Tuesday the city saved $68 million by not making up the remaining six school days.

But CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates rejected that characterization in a tweet, accusing the district of “robbing” educators.

That money will help cover increased labor costs in the first year of the teachers’ new five-year pact, along with an additional $66 million in tax increment financing surpluses, CPS officials said.

Teacher pay increases will cost CPS an additional $33 million in the first year of the contract, according to an amended budget proposed by the district for this fiscal year. And the deal for CPS staffers represented by SEIU Local 73 — who also went on strike — will tack another $15 million onto this year’s budget, the district said.

City officials have said the new CTU contract adds costs totaling $1.5 billion over the life of the deal.

The Board of Education will vote on the amended budget proposal in addition to the labor contracts Nov. 20. Before that, public budget hearings are scheduled for Nov. 12, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and again from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.