CHICAGO (WGN-TV) — Problems with an effort to test students for Covid-19 prompted strong objections from the Chicago Teacher’s Union on Thursday.  

CPS announced Wednesday that the drop-off deadline for at-home COVID-19 testing kits was extended until 5 p.m. Thursday.

Students are set to return to schools Monday, but the CTU called for a two-week delay to the start of classes. and said many drop-off sites were overwhelmed. The union said the district isn’t ready.

CPS CEO Dr. Pedro Martinez said it is not a problem and supply chain issues are resolved.  

“We worked with Walgreens. We worked with FedEx. All those test kits were picked up,” he said.

The plan remains to welcome students back from Winter Break on Monday but the district stands ready to move quickly when they see clusters of infections. 

Over the winter break, CPS distributed 150,000 at-home test kits to areas with low vaccination rates that have been the hardest hit by COVID-19. CPS encouraged families to test students before returning results via FedEx or a participating library location.

The school district is now waiting on results.

At a joint City Hall news conference with CPS, the head of the Chicago Department of Public Health, Dr. Allison Arwady, pointed to the latest numbers — including 16% positivity rates throughout the city. 

“If you’re worried about your child returning to school and they’re not vaccinated, get vaccinated,” she said.