CPS Seeks Community Input on Draft Guidelines for School Actions
The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) released a draft last week of the school district annual guidelines for taking school actions, including co-locations or re-assigning boundary changes to expand access to a high-quality education for all students.
CPS officials say over the next three weeks, CPS will seek feedback from the community on how to incorporate suggestions to better tailor the guidelines to meet schools’ needs.
CPS CEO Forrest Claypool released a statement:
“We hope that these draft guidelines spur communities that are interested in modifications to provide CPS with feedback that can be incorporated in the final guidelines. School communities have different needs and priorities, and we will listen to the ideas of our LSCs, principals and parents in the coming weeks. These guidelines also reaffirm our commitment that we will not close any facilities because of academics or underutilization.”
According to CPS officials, the guidelines address the criteria for school co-locations and boundary changes. As in previous years, the draft language on co-locations includes requirements about efficient utilization of space and being able to support academic programming of both schools. Also as in previous years, the language addressing boundary changes includes requirements about overcrowding and space utilization. The draft guidelines do not include language that would enable action to be taken to close school facilities for underutilization or academic reasons.
State law requires the CPS CEO to publish draft guidelines by October 1 and host a 21-day community feedback process. During this process, CPS will seek and incorporate community feedback from key stakeholders, including parents, local school councils, community action councils and other community groups, using multiple modes of communication to engage communities throughout the city.
After the feedback period ends, CPS will review and incorporate suggestions from stakeholders as needed. If there are significant changes to the draft guidelines, CPS will release an updated draft and begin another 21-day period to solicit additional feedback, before releasing final guidelines on or before Dec. 1.
Janaya Shaw, Ed.D., a faculty member at South Suburban College, says that CPS asking the public for input is a good start but they ought to keep stakeholders posted along the way.
“I agree that asking the community for suggestions is a positive thing. All stakeholders of a school (business owners, community members, parents, students, staff, faculty, and administrators) should have input and their suggestions should be taken seriously since they know what their communities need,” Shaw said. “Research on community involvement shows there is a positive effect on schools. But...there is only a positive effect if their suggestions are taken seriously and acted upon. Don’t ask for input if it’s just for "show."
The draft guidelines are available on www.cps.edu/guidelines. Public comments on the draft guidelines may be submitted online, via e-mail (CEOGuidelines@cps.edu) and web-survey at www.cps.edu/guidelines. U.S. mail is also an acceptable means of providing feedback. The mailing address is: Attn: CEO’s Office re: Draft Guidelines c/o Patrick Payne, 42 W. Madison Street, 3rd Floor, Chicago, IL 60602. The public comment period closes at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct 22.
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