Chicago Board of Education Members Advocate for Remote Learning in Response to Immigration Operations

CHICAGO (WLS) — A renewed push for remote education within Chicago Public Schools is emerging.

This initiative is being driven by recent immigration activities occurring across Chicago.

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The conversation about shifting to online learning has intensified following the detention of a 17-year-old student by federal authorities in the Little Village neighborhood.

There have been additional encounters involving ICE agents in proximity to local schools.

The arrest of the student took place on Thursday amidst a demonstration opposing ICE operations in Little Village, near the intersection of 26th and Whipple.

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The teen joined the demonstration while on his way to school at Benito Juarez Community Academy in Pilsen. He was later released without charges.

Fearing for student safety, emotions ran high at a CPS board meeting.

Board members say some CPS parents have been pitching for an e-learning option for students at risk, so they can safely stay home during the immigration crackdown.

“I marked a junior student absent, not because that student was sick… it was because ICE had snatched him up on his way to school,” Benito Juarez Community Academy teacher Liz Winfield said. “It’s a sense of unease. It’s a sense of anger and frustration. It’s a lot of students calling in, or parents calling in saying, ‘I don’t feel safe.’”

“Our parents are asking for remote learning if possible,” board member Emma Lozano said. “It is an emergency. Period. This is an emergency right now. So we need to figure that out whether we go to the governor all together, we write a letter, we do what we have to do, we march, we do everything, but it is an emergency right now.”

The Benito Juarez principal told families in a statement, “Our staff is well-versed in the proper protocols for keeping our students and school community safe in any event involving federal law enforcement.”

CPS has also enhanced its 24-7 Student Safety Center, to better support schools and families amid increased federal activity across the city.

But as far as e-learning, the Interim CPS CEO Macquline King says the decision would have to come from the governor. She said Thursday night schools are the safest place for students to be.

ABC7 has not gotten a response from the governor’s office.