Frank I Bennett Elementary School

To be honest, I'm pretty concerned about the health environment at Bennett lately. The chronic absenteeism is hitting over 30%, which is a huge red flag that kids are either staying home sick constantly or just checking out. When you've got that many kids missing class in a neighborhood school, it really makes you wonder about the airflow and how they're handling germ spread in the classrooms. Plus, with the student-teacher ratios feeling pretty stretched, I don't think the staff has the time to really keep an eye on whether a kid is looking under the weather before they pass it to the whole rug. It feels like we're always one week away from another 'bug' going around the whole school and the communication from the office on health protocols is pretty mid.

My youngest is at Bennett for the preschool program and honestly, it’s a bit of a mixed bag health-wise. On one hand, the teachers are really good about making the little ones wash their hands constantly, and I appreciate that they send home a quick note if someone in the class has strep or something. But the building is pretty old, so sometimes the air feels a bit stuffy, and I wish they were a little stricter with the sick-child policy—it feels like there's always one kid with a nasty cough being dropped off regardless. It’s a solid neighborhood school, just feels like they're doing the best they can with limited CPS resources.