Westside Schools Face Consolidation
Last Wednesday, Interim Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO introduced several key initiatives to fortify the school districts education agenda. Among Mazanys recommendations were several school consolidations across the city, some of which are on the west side.
The proposed school actions would provide better and more complete educational environments for students whose schools are being consolidated into others, said Mazany. In every case, students would be offered the opportunity to attend a school that is as good as or is better performing than the school they currently attend.
Mazany said public hearings will be arranged for all proposed actions. The Interim CEO will then present a final list of proposed school actions to the Chicago Board of Education for consideration at its April 27 meeting, the release stated.
The consolidation proposals among west side schools include:
Jacob Beidler, 3151 W. Walnut St., and Willa Cather, 2908 W. Washington Blvd will consolidate. The merger will allow for the expansion of Urban Prep High School, East Garfield Park campus, at the Beidler building.
George Tilton Schools pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes, located 223 N. Keeler Ave, would be phased out this fall and reassigned to Guglielmo Marconi, 230 N. Kolmar Ave. The consolidation would allow more students to attend under enrolled Marconi and allow for the expansion of Chicago Talent Development HS in the Tilton building. Chicago Talent Development HS is a charter school.
During the Chicago Board of Education meeting, Mazany also presented an updated budget analysis showing the CPS estimated budget gap for 2012 is $720 million, according to a press release.
A major contributor to this deficit is the loss of one-time revenuessuch as Federal stimulus moneywhich funded elements of this years operating budget and will not be available for 2012, the release stated.
In addition, there are the very big questions about what decisions the state will make, both in terms of funding level and the current backlog of $236 million in state payments due CPS, Mazany added. He noted that repayment of that money would cut the current deficit significantly.
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