The infusion of funding will help prevent what officials had warned was an Armageddon scenario of deep service cuts and layoffs, but it’s still $50 million short of the $500 million a $3 billion 2021 budget assumed.

“It is our hope that CPS will collaborate with all stakeholders regarding a consensus on what is deemed a safe return to in-person learning,” the Vaughn Occupational High School council wrote in a letter sent Tuesday to Mayor Lori Lightfoot, CPS CEO Janice Jackson and others. CPS, however, said local school councils do not have the authority to decide whether or not schools open.

An open letter from 17 Chicago physicians: “We cannot understate the serious psychological harm that prolonged virtual school has had on many children. We are seeing an epidemic of serious psychological illness that has reached a crisis point. “

Gov. JB Pritzker has said he will re-evaluate easing Covid restrictions in Illinois at some point in January. “What we don’t want to do is swing back and forth between mitigations and not having mitigations within days or a week or two of one another,” the governor said before Christmas.

Reprinted from the Chicago Tribune: “Still president at the time, Obama promised more than an homage to his legacy in choosing Chicago over other possible sites, including New York City. He talked of creating an engine for youth engagement and South Side revitalization. What’s happened (nationally) since then? A lot…That patch of land in Jackson Park earmarked for the Obama Presidential Center campus? Not a spade of dirt has turned.”

Chief Talent Officer Matt Lyons points out that most employees did not ask to stay home. He said this speaks to the fact that “the plan we have built supports our employees and the needs of students.” But Monday may also be a flashpoint between the Chicago Teachers Union and the school district.

CPS spokeswoman Emily Bolton noted about 79% of the first wave of returning employees either didn’t ask for any accommodations — or received them. All 527 employees who requested leave or absence due to a personal underlying health condition were granted it.

As of Tuesday, 34 states were categorized as “red” states, meaning travelers must quarantine for 10 days when coming to Chicago. That number is up from weeks past.

There hasn’t been a jury trial in a Cook County courtroom in nine months. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Constitutional right to a speedy trial is suspended statewide.