CPS issues draft guidelines for closing schools
BY LAUREN FITZPATRICK Staff Reporter lfitzpatrick@suntimes.com October 31, 2012 3:44PM
New Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett at the Chicago School Board Hedquarters in Chicago, Ill., on Friday, October 12, 2012. | Andrew A. Nelles~Sun-Times Media
Updated: December 2, 2012 2:11PM
With more seats than students, Chicago Public Schools on Wednesday released draft guidelines it will use to determine which of its schools it could close or consolidate.
The list of targeted schools will be published on or before Dec. 1. Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett called the guidelines “the beginning of a conversation we need to have with the community, not an end.
“No steps will be taken until we have rebuilt trust with the community by engaging them in an inclusive, open and transparent manner,” she said. “They deserve to be real partners in the tough decisions that need to be made about how we can better invest in our children and their future, and if I don’t have the confidence that this can be done
right by Dec. 1, then we won’t be moving forward with recommendations at that time.”
