Alderman, legislator blast lack of early warning on school consolidations

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

A Chicago legislator and a South Side alderman Monday challenged Chicago Public School efforts to push ahead with plans to consolidate schools before a new mayor is seated in May and a new schools CEO chosen.

Both reacted to a story in Monday’s Sun-Times revealing that CPS is actively discussing consolidating at least 10 of the system’s more than 500 elementary schools by this fall.

Interim Schools CEO Terry Mazany defended the idea in an e-mail to the Sun-Times Monday, saying “We are not engaged in the regular school closing protocols. We are only addressing time critical needs of a handful of schools that have to be addressed before the next school year — decisions that were deferred over time now require immediate action and we are including the community in this process.’’

However, Valencia Rias, a member of the Chicago Educational Facilities Task Force, noted that consolidations, closings and phase-outs are usually announced in January, not March. Even consolidations — in which one usually under-used school is folded into another and loses its name and principal — can be hugely disruptive to parents, Rias said. By now, parents have missed their chance to apply for magnet or other schools and may have to juggle schedules to find a way to get their kids to a new school building, she noted.

CPS officials discussed 14 consolidations last week with the taskforce, Rias said. The group recently released its recommendations for overhauling CPS facility decisions and is helping draft a bill to implement them.

The taskforce co-chair, state Rep. Cynthia Soto (D-Chicago), said she heard so many objections to consolidations Monday that she now is opposing the plans. The proposals are expected to be unveiled as early as this week, subjected to public hearings in the coming weeks, and face an April 27 school board vote.

“Let the next [Schools} CEO deal with this issue,’’ Soto said. “I’m against school consolidations at this point, until the new CEO takes his position.’’

Last summer, Ald. Freddenna Lyle (6th) was so upset about the long-time top-down closing and consolidation process that had targeted two schools in her South Side ward that she co-sponsored a City Council resolution demanding a moratorium on closings. She backed off only after then-Schools CEO Ron Huberman promised to implement a five-step process designed to allow more time for community and school input.

“Promises made to us were totally ignored. The admission that last year’s closings were poorly rolled out has been forgotten,’’ Lyle said Monday.

“I just don’t know why they’re moving on such a large scale when we don’t know what the new [CPS] administration’s vision is,’’ Lyle said.

But not every alderman was upset. Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) said he was briefed last week about plans to fold the 1st Ward’s Schneider Elementary into Jahn Elementary, which is located in the 32nd Ward.

“I knew changes would be made once the CHA started redeveloping Lathrop Homes. The entire complex is almost shut down. It’s dropped to 130 families from 700. CPS ... can’t do too much with it except try to consolidate. There’s so few kids there,” Waguespack said.

“We’re in support of re-invigorating my school, Jahn, which we’ve been working on for three years. ... We haven’t found it to be much of an issue. It’s part of a longer-term plan that everybody’s been working on. We assumed a lot of this.”

Chicago Principals Association President Clarice Berry, another facilities taskforce member, questioned whether CPs was trying to “do an end-run around some of the best practices our taskforce would put in place’’ through a bill now being written. “I’m not surprised they are rushing to get some of these consolidations done before that bill hits the ground in Springfield.’’

Other proposals under discussion involve consolidating Carpenter into Talcott, Andersen into LaSalle Magnet II, Avondale into Logandale Middle, and Cather into Biedler.

Ben LaBolt, spokesman for Mayor-Elect Rahm Emanuel, insisted Monday that the mayor-elect was not consulted about the proposed consolidations. “We won’t be approving or vetoing decisions” made before Emanuel takes office on May 16.