Just a little while ago CPS put out a press release (see below) announcing changes to the original list of closings, etc. Four schools -- Gillespie (turnaround), Mollison (consolidation with Wells), Guggenheim (closure), Paderewski (closure) are being taken off the action list, and a fifth (Curtis) is going to be turned around rather than closed.
It's worth noting that at least a couple of the decisions not to close schools (Guggenheim, Paderewski, and Curtis) are related to safety concerns. Others (Mollison, Gillespie) are being left alone because school leaders promised to make their own dramatic changes instead. Curtis went from closure to turnaround because Gillespie went off the turnaround list and for safety reasons.
Huberman
Announces Final School Action Recommendations
Four
schools removed from original list; proposal now go to Chicago Board of
Education
Chicago Public Schools Chief Executive Officer Ron Huberman
announced today that four schools
have been taken off the list of proposed school actions -- closures,
phase-outs, consolidations and turnarounds -- following a series of public and
community hearings and his review of testimony and the reports of independent
hearing officers.
A fifth school which was originally proposed for closure
will instead remain open and undergo reconstitution via the District's
turnaround strategy to improve academic performance.
Huberman said his final recommendations on school actions
will be presented to Chicago Board of Education members at their meeting next
week.
"The public hearing process is designed to allow
for open dialogue between all concerned parties, and to provide the opportunity
for school officials to hear first-hand from those most affected by these
proposed changes," Huberman said. "We know well that closing
a school is not an easy task, nor is it popular. But our process allows
for substantial input from stakeholders so that we achieve an end result that
benefits the students, parents, faculty and community."
Huberman said he has removed from the original school
actions list these schools for the following reasons:
n
Frank L. Gillespie, 9301 S. State St. Huberman said testimony at the
public hearing, and further review by District staff, has indicated that the
school's leadership has been engaged in locally driven changes that show
great promise for increasing academic achievement. Gillespie was originally
proposed for turnaround due to low academic performance.
n
Irvin C. Mollison,
4415 South King Drive. Mollison was originally
proposed to be consolidated, due to low academic performance, with Ida
B. Wells Prep Elementary School in the current Mollison building as the
Wells-Mollison School. Huberman said after some deliberation, CPS
officials questioned whether
the Wells educational model would transfer comfortably to Mollison.
Wells will
remain at its current location at 244 E. Pershing Road.
n
Simon Guggenheim, 7141 S. Morgan. Huberman cited concerns over student transit to and from
school voiced in testimony at the public hearing which was further investigated
by CPS staff. Guggenheim was originally proposed for closure due
to low academic performance.
n
Ignance Paderewski Elementary School, 2221 S. Lawndale Ave.
Huberman cited concerns over student transit to and from school voiced in testimony
at the public hearing which was further investigated by CPS staff. Paderewski
had been proposed for closure due to low student enrollment.
In addition, Huberman announced that George W. Curtis Elementary School, 32 E. 115th St., will not be closed because
of low academic performance as originally proposed, but instead will be subject
to a turnaround led by the Academy for Urban School Leadership.
Huberman said the process of public and community hearings
continues to yield valuable testimony, but that CPS is committed to an even
more open and transparent process in considering any future school actions.
"We will be establishing a formal unit charged with
early identification of schools that are underperforming academically and
helping design interventions and strategies to get them on track,"
Huberman said. "We want to have better - and more timely -
dialogue with the stakeholders, school and community leaders at schools that
might qualify for a school action under our policies."
Schools that will be recommended for closure to the Chicago
Board of Education next week include:
n
William H. Prescott Elementary School, 1632 West Wrightwood
Ave., because its student enrollment is far below operational efficiency.
Designated receiving schools are Louis A. Agassiz, 2851 N. Seminary Ave., and
Augustus H. Burley, 1630 W. Barry, Elementary Schools.
n
Bartholome De Las Casas
Occupational High School, 8401 S. Saginaw Ave, because of
facilities-related reasons. Students from this special needs school will be placed
with private providers that can meet their needs.
Huberman said two schools are being
proposed for consolidation:
n
Helen J. McCorkle Elementary School, 4421 S. State St., because of the poor condition of its facility. Ludwig Beethoven Elementary School, 25 W. 47 th St. which has been designated as the receiving school for McCorkle
students, will receive $8.5 million in capital improvements during the summer.
n
Guglielmo Marconi
Elementary School, 230 N. Kolmar Ave., due to under
enrollment will be consolidated with George W. Tilton Elementary School, 223
North Keeler Ave., to form Tilton-Marconi School. Other school options for
Marconi students will include Ericson, Gregory and Calhoun North Elementary Schools.
"New criteria and guidelines were
used to help guide us through the process this year," Huberman said.
"Students whose schools are ultimately approved for consolidation or
closure this year will be covered under the School Closings Student Bill of Rights,
which will provide them with additional safeguards, supports and programmatic
opportunities as they transition into their new schools."
Huberman said in addition to Curtis, three
other schools are being proposed for turnaround by AUSL.
n
Myra Bradwell Elementary School, 7736 South Burnham
n
Charles S. Deneen Elementary School, 7257 South State St.
n
Wendell Phillips High School, 244 East Pershing Road
The current John Marshall High School, 3250 W. Adams, is proposed to be
turned around by the CPS Office of School Turnarounds, part of the District's
Chief Education Office.
Under the turnaround strategy, students stay at their school
and new leadership and staff are brought in to change the school culture and
performance expectations.
Huberman said one school is being proposed for phase-out because
of low enrollment:
n
George Schneider Elementary School, 2957 North Hoyne Ave.
In a phase-out, existing students may stay at the school but the school will
decrease by one grade level per year.
"Our administrative team invested
countless hours into ensuring a fair and open process. The participation by
Board Members at every hearing underscores the importance and weight they give
to the process and to community concerns."
Chicago Public Schools serves approximately 408,000 students
in more than 670 schools. It is the third-largest school district in the
nation.
Filed under: 125 S. Clark Street
Huberman goes to a lot of trouble to praise himself for listening to the community. Maybe it would have been a bit better to ask them about this prior to deciding on and announcing the closings. That would have been a more thoughtful dialogue.
-yellowdart
this was all planned, just what schools would be saved was decided by turnout and advocacy(and who they could bring to their side). notice how it was all over the news but when the hearings were taking place no coverage. now cps and ctu can claim victory while schools are still being closed and turned-around.
Nice Show!
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1o298_peter-gabriel-at-barry-williams-sho_music
If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law;
it invites every man to become a law unto himself;
it invites anarchy. Olmstead v. US, 277 US. 438,485
Agreed, Chicago Politics on display. Huberman and Team are getting ready for the next move against public education. Kind of like Mayor Daley calling himself the savior when he took over the schools. After that CPS became a patronage machine. Huberman still has his no nothing bean counters being punitive when they have no clue. Beating down principals and coaches in schools on a daily basis is STILL GOING ON! THE BEAT DOWN CONTINUES. The movement must not let up.
Demanding high quality teachers and administrators is undermined by Chicago Public Schools. Ren 2010 gives schools the ability to hire non-certified teachers and Hubermans team has folks with no Type 75 Administration Certification. Thank you Mayor Daley!
The process is indeed a farce, and the only successful model for school improvement is internal improvements.
You do neither yourself nor your school justice when you attempt to play the board's game and disrespect other communities. The non-contextualized data game is bad whenever anyone plays it, but it's especially misguided when someone attempting to save their school misrepresents data of another community that fought so hard and justly.
There is no student centered reason to ever unilaterally close schools, displace the entire staff and force the students to start from scratch. Never. Never ever never. It is a bankrupt model and every scrap of existing data supports this fact. The only reason to do so would be if you are attempting to hand a school to a clouted group or mass fire teachers.
The exploration of the Ren2010 process is a direct admission on the part of central office that they have either no expertise or no interest in improving a particular school. Internal improvement is challenging, but it's the only way that works and is respectful to the community.
I know plenty of people with the Board and with AUSL. They are fundamentally good human beings who, in a vacuum, want what's best for students. Isn't it time that they draw a line in the sand and say, "No, I won't allow this to continue?"
Any true Academy of Urban School Leadership would know that the right thing to do is speak to communities and work collaboratively with those who want to cooperate with their program.
The current model is equivalent to showing up at someone's house with a demolition order and acting bewildered that they are not welcoming your efforts in "helping them".
this medill article notes that huberman has pledged to create a new outfit in cps focused on the closing hearings/ information process
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=157518
ditto from the defender -- a formal unit will be opened to handle closings -- hard to believe that duncan didn't have a formal process for doing this after all those years.
http://www.chicagodefender.com/article-7179-public-hearings-reap.html
Retired Principal said: Alexander, what's so hard to believe about it if you really knew Arne Duncan?