CHICAGO (AP) – Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is touting a preliminary agreement with the teachers union over COVID-19 safety protocols – one that could avert a strike in the nation’s third-largest school district.

Some students could return to classrooms as soon as Thursday, with the reopening of school phased-in by grade. Also, the city has agreed to vaccinate 1,500 teachers and staff weekly at sites dedicated to Chicago Public Schools. The possible deal – which still requires approval from the Chicago Teachers Union — also includes metrics that would trigger school closings when cases spike.

The union and district have been fighting for months over a plan to gradually reopen the roughly 340,000-student district, with talks breaking down in recent days on issues including vaccinations. Lightfoot and CPS officials had threatened to lock educators out of teaching systems multiple times, which the union said would lead to a strike for the second time in less than two years.

While Lightfoot calls the deal a “tentative agreement,” the union calls it an offer that requires further review.

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