Live Blog: CPS Closings

The Chicago Public Schools board is meeting today to consider closing around 50 elementary schools, the largest mass closing in the nation that would affect tens of thousands of children. Check here for continual updates.

Click HERE for a map and more details about the schools affected by closings

Click HERE for gallery of photos.

Spared school celebrates decision    Permalink 12:43 p.m.

As class let out at Mahalia Jackson Elementary School Wednesday afternoon, parents, students, local residents and teachers celebrated the news that their school would stay open.

"Hooray! I'm happy," Doretha Maxfield, 80, said as she waved her hands in the air after a reporter told her the news. "I've got three grandkids here."

Parents said the school has been an anchor in the community, giving multiple generations an early education.

"I'm so happy we were able to keep ... the school open," said Velanie Adams, 24, who has a 4-year-old son in the school's pre-K program.

Adams said she worried about the safety of Mahalia's proposed receiving school, where she said there was a lot of gang activity.

"Here a lot of people know most of the kids in the neighborhood," said Adams, who graduated from the school at 917 W. 88th St. herself in 2003. "They look after everyone's kids."

Soon after the school board voted on school closures, Menjiwei Latham, 64, hugged a nearby schoolbook saleswoman after learning that Mahalia Jackson was no longer on the list.

Latham's 11-year-old grandson, Paki Latham, suffers from a disorder she said takes on characteristics of autism.

She enrolled Paki in two other public schools before they found Mahalia about two years ago. Since coming to the school, Paki, a 5th grader,  has improved his verbal skills, learned to read better and understands math concepts he couldn't before.

"They don't make him feel like he is in a dummy room," she said. "They do what they need to do."

When she first heard Mahalia could be closed, Latham said she worried that putting him in another school would slow down his progress.

And she was prepared to fight, showing up at community meetings, even contacting a lawyer to see about her options.

"I was ready to sue," she said.

Even when a hearing judge recommended that the school not be closed, she wasn't sure the district would reverse its decision, but she was hopeful.

"I knew if it was possible if any school should be open, this should be one," Latham said.

She calls the school district's decision to keep Mahalia open a "partial victory."

"I'm relieved that he doesn't have to struggle," she said of her grandson. "But I'm not relieved that there are that many schools in a plan that has not been tested."

And what does Paki think about Mahalia, now that his school will stay open? Latham asked him outside the school.

"It's nice," he said, and shrugged his shoulders.

Principal Robert Hubbird said news the school would stay open means he can focus on improving the school next year, including expanding programming for special needs kids.

"This is when the hard work begins," he said, as he exited the school Wednesday. "It's about making sure the kids have what they need."

 

-By Naomi Nix
After stormy meeting, CPS board closes 49 elementary schools    Permalink 12:43 p.m.

After hearing from aldermen, angry parents and community members in a meeting interrupted several times by protesters, the Chicago Board of Education today approved a plan to close 49 elementary schools and one high school program.

The board voted 4-2 to close Von Humboldt Elementary, then unanimously approved the rest of the closings in a single vote.

Before that, the board voted 6-0 to approve a last-minute recommendation by the district to spare four elementary schools: Manierre Elementary on the Near North Side, Mahalia Jackson and Garvey on the South Side and Ericson on the West Side.

After more than two hours of public comments, Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett and board members defended the plan to close the highest number of schools the city has ever shut down in a single year.

“We can no longer embrace the status quo because the status quo is not working for all Chicago school children,” Byrd-Bennett said before the vote was taken. “It is imperative that you take the difficult decision but essential steps.” Read more ...

Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett at meeting today.  (José Osorio, Chicago Tribune)

CPS board president David Vitale and other board members listen to speakers. (José Osorio, Chicago Tribune)

The board voted 4-2 to close Von Humboldt Elementary, then voted on the rest of the closings together.

That vote passed unanimosly, so the board all together voted to close 49 elementary schools and one high school program.

3:13 p.m.

The CPS board voted to side with CPS chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett’s recommendation and not close Ericson, Garvey, Jackson and Manierre elementary schools.

3:07 p.m.
3:06 p.m.
3:05 p.m.
3:03 p.m.

CPS board member Mahalia Hines said she wondered if the school district should wait another year and talked about a recent trip to the dentist's office when he recommended an unpleasant procedure and she thought about waiting a year.

“He said it will continue to decay and the pain will be unbearable,” she said. “The decay can no longer continue.”

Hines said community members should continue to keep on the board to make sure the changes work for children. “When you hear about safety, that's the adults, not the children,” she said. “I'm looking forward to you being as visible as you were today.”

Board member Jesse Ruiz said this was the most difficult day he's had while serving eight years on different school boards.

“We need the collaboration of everybody,” he said. “If we don't, we'll continue to see a stratified school system.”

By John Chase
2:56 p.m.

“To the public I would say we all recognize these are not easy decisions,” said CPS Board President David Vitale, who acknowledged the plan is tough on teachers, students, parents and entire neighborhoods.

“And we have taken that into consideration,” he said. "But today's reality requires change. Ultimately it is our responsibility to choose.”

By John Chase
2:37 p.m.
2:32 p.m.

An elderly man wearing a Chicago Teachers Union t-shirt stood up and walked out of the board room, saying, “This is a farce. If you care about children, you should leave now.”

CPS chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett then had Chicago Police Deputy Chief Steve Georgas discuss the safety plan for the school closings. He said the department has reviewed initial CPS safe passage routes.

“We can assure you this is and will remain a thorough process,” he said. “This is not a new process for us. We are simply taking existing programs that work and expanding them.”

Byrd-Bennett said charges that she and others with CPS are okay with children being harmed by the closings are “outrageous claims, which I do find offensive.”

On hearing officers' concerns, she said of the 66 hearings on potential actions, only nine were deemed noncompliant. And she said revisions are constantly being made to CPS plans.

“These are living documents,” she said.
 

By John Chase
2:19 p.m.

CPS chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett, interrupted a few times by people in the crowd, laid the groundwork for the school closings proposal.

“We can no longer embrace the status quo because the status quo is not working for all Chicago school children,” she said. “It is imperative that you take the difficult decision but essential steps.”

She said parents, students and teachers are not to blame for the problem the board is going to address today.

Byrd-Bennett said community feedback has ranged from constructive changes to doing nothing. “We have listened,” she said.

Doing nothing, she added, was not a proposal she could bring to the board.

By John Chase
2:06 p.m.
2:01 p.m.
1:58 p.m.
Guards block door 1:43 p.m.

Chicago Public Schools security guards keep the side door blocked as dozens of protesters rally in the lobby of CPS headquarters.  (Antonio Perez, Chicago Tribune)

Carolina Gaete tells a CPS guard to let her into the meeting as she joins dozens of protesters inside the lobby of the Chicago Public Schools headquarters.  (Antonio Perez, Chicago Tribune)

Protesters watch as police clear the CPS headquarters lobby. (Michael Tercha, Chicago Tribune)

Security pushes back as activists try to enter CPS headquarters lobby. (Michael Tercha, Chicago Tribune)

With TV cameras rolling, some people took the opportunity to begin yelling into the microphone even though they weren't registered to speak.

One man began asking why CPS was going to move students who have physical problems to schools without elevators. He was escorted from the board room and began chanting, “Save our Schools!”

Others who were registered to speak but went beyond the two-minute limit had the microphone pulled away from them.

For the most part, parents, teachers, principals and community activists made their case for why their schools should not be closed.

By John Chase

Ald. Jason Ervin, 28th, speaks during the Chicago school board meeting.  (José Osorio, Chicago Tribune)

Ald. Robert Fioretti, 2nd, criticized CPS for opening new charters at the same time it is closing neighborhood schools. He also said the closings will hurt blacks and Latinos more than whites.

“The input of community members is being ignored,” he said. “Tens of thousands of Chicagoans attended those hearings. I'm worried all those hearings were a charade and the decisions have already been made.”

He asked the board to hold off any final vote until all the analysis is complete and to do so now could affect which families stay and leave the city.

He was the last alderman to speak.

By John Chase

Ald. Deborah Graham, 29th, said she didn't like neighborhood schools being pitted up against each other.

She said it was “disheartening” for principals, students and teachers to be scrapping for survival and doing so by trying to point out the faults of other schools.

“I really want you guys to consider how we're going to go and move forward because there's a lot of healing that has to take place,” she said.

Ald. Proco Moreno, 1st,  said if CPS moves forward, there will be no elementary schools in East Humboldt Park.

“I don't think you want that to be your legacy,” he said. “This is not a community that is blighted...We got a lot going on there.”

By John Chase

Ald. Ameya Pawar, 47th, said CPS is putting charter schools over neighborhood schools. He said he was at the meeting on behalf of two schools slated for closure, Courtenay and Trumbull.

“We don't want to look back in five years and say, 'What did we do?' " Pawar said.

Noting that the board's actions today might set a national record for the number of schools closed, he said, “I urge you this is not a record we want to set.”

By John Chase

A group of about 15 people approached the podium. As one of them, Rebecca Martinez spoke, a man standing with her started yelling.

“This board is illegitimate!” said the man, Shannon Bennett of the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization.

Security quickly moved in to pull Bennett from the podium. As security tried to remove others in the group from the room, they began singing, “We shall not be moved.”

They continued signing as they were ushered out of the room.

By John Chase

Chicago police warn activists as they protest in the corridor of the CPS headquarters lobby.  (Michael Tercha, Chicago Tribune)

12:11 p.m.

As the CPS board considered closing nearly 50 schools, one parent voiced gratitude that her school had been spared.

“We feel extremely blessed. Our prayers were answered,” said Tyisha Whitmore, 33, whose daughters are in the 3rd and 8th grade at Garvey Elementary. “We are ecstatic, grateful, still sad about the other 50 schools that will still be closing because no school should be closed.”

For weeks, parents have been protesting the closure of their Garvey, which outperformed the district average on state test scores last school year. Hundreds turned out at community meetings, and signed an online petition hoping to save the school from the chopping block, Whitmore said.

Still, she worried that their efforts would be unsuccessful. “Toward the end, some of us were feeling like it may not happen,” Whitmore said. “To turn around and have this transition. It was amazing.”

Whitmore says her children were ecstatic when she told them the news this morning.  “They were like ‘are you for real? Are you serious? I’m so happy,’ “ Whitmore recalled.

“My 9-year old said, ‘See I told you we were not going to close,' ” Whitmore said. “ She said, ‘This is what staying positive does.' ”

11:59 a.m.

CPS Board President David Vitale chastised some members of the audience for making noise while aldermen spoke, asking those "in the peanut gallery" to be respectful while the aldermen spoke.

"Peanut gallery?" several members of the audience shouted back.

One man said, "Peanut gallery. Vitale that ain't cool."

By John Chase

Several aldermen were taking much longer than the two-minute limit usually placed on the public.

Ald. Walter Burnett, 27th, said he still has concerns about schools in his ward on the chopping block.  "We're talking about grammar school kids. We're talking about babies."

Pointing to Calhoun Elementary, he said children would have to travel long distances through a neighborhood that has gotten worse to reach their replacement school, Cather. He noted that Calhoun is across the street from LEARN Charter school, and said it is disingenuous for CPS to have approved a charter school and then close Calhoun for low enrollment.

Ald. Pat Dowell’s 3rd ward includes the Bronzeville neighborhood that has historically been hit by school closures in the past. She commended CPS for having listened to her and saved some schools initially considered for closure. "My hope and need is that CPS will invest in the future of the young people who live in Bronzeville," she said. "We need to recover...We have had enough."

Ald. Jason Ervin, 28th, also stressed the need for safety precautions and funding, most notably Marconi and Tilton. "The divides there run deep," he said.

By John Chase
11:36 a.m.

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis talks with reporters outside the CPS headquarters lobby.  (Michael Tercha, Chicago Tribune)

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis says sparing just four schools from proposed closings "is not enough."

“Four schools is a start,” Lewis said. “It's a good start but it's not enough.”

She said she wasn't surprised the four elementary schools -- Manierre, Jackson, Garvey and Ericson -- were removed because Mayor Rahm Emanuel still achieves what she said was his goal of closing 50 schools. "Fifty was always the number,” Lewis said. “That's what he said he wanted months ago so no surprises.”

She said the union is ready move on to its plan for a voter registration drive and political efforts to oust the mayor. When asked about the mayor’s comments that he's prepared to take a hit for the closings, Lewis said, “Well, he will be. I'm glad he's prepared.”

By John Chase
11:22 a.m.
11:21 a.m.

Reflecting concerns voiced by some school board members, the head of the Chicago Public Schools has taken four elementary schools off a lengthy list of closings up for a vote today.

CPS chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett has withdrawn her recommendations to close Manierre Elementary School on the Near North Side, Mahalia Jackson Elementary School and Garvey Elementary School on the South Side and Ericson Elementary School on the West Side.

Byrd-Bennett is also asking that the closing of Canter Elementary School be phased in, rather than going into effect this fall. And she is no longer seeking to turn the running of Barton Elementary School over to the Academy for Urban School Leadership.

Forty-nine elementary schools remain on the list, which would still be the largest mass school closing in the nation. Tens of thousands of children will be affected. Read more

By Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah and John Chase