Englewood High School Remains Open With No Students

The Chicago Public Schools has proposed closing John Hope College Prep High School in Englewood since it has no students currently enrolled there. Photo credit: By Wendell Hutson
The Chicago Public Schools has proposed closing John Hope College Prep High School in Englewood since it has no students currently enrolled there. Photo credit: By Wendell Hutson

Englewood High School Remains Open With No Students

BY WENDELL HUTSON

Contributing Writer

This fall, Chicago Public Schools opened Englewood STEM High School to replace four nearby high schools including John Hope College Prep High School, which currently has no students enrolled.

Now, the Chicago Board of Education is set to hold two community meetings and one public hearing next month as required by a state mandate before taking action on a proposal to close John Hope, 5515 S. Lowe Ave.

But parents and community groups want to know why are taxpayers paying to keep a school open if no students are there.

“There is a state-mandated school closure process that the district must follow. This includes required community engagement and a public hearing,” said Emily Bolton, a spokeswoman for CPS, in an emailed statement. “The district could not move to close the school prior to completing this process.”

She added that no other school has zero students enrolled and is still open.

However, Bolton did not explain why CPS waited until now to move towards closing the school especially since the school only had 20 students at the end of the last school year.

Another reason the school building might have been kept open, said Dorothy Saunders, 56, an Englewood resident, is because a charter school is also located in the building.

“My niece graduated from KIPP so I know about the school. It’s not a bad school and I thought John Hope was a pretty decent high school too. It’s unfortunate that enrollment went down but considering the neighborhood, I am not surprised,” said Saunders, who contends violence continues to plague the neighborhood. “Still, I think it’s crazy that CPS did not act sooner to close the school permanently, if they saw students were leaving.”

According to CPS data, enrollment at John Hope has steadily declined since 2015 when there were 272 students followed by 199 in 2016 and 136 in 2018. By June 2019, only 20 students remained at the school, which opened in 1971.

One community activist said keeping the school open this year with no students is another example of CPS mismanaging tax dollars.

“And they (CPS) want us to pay more in property taxes to finance them. Look at how our tax dollars are being wasted with an empty school still open. That means we are paying for lights, heat and security for nothing,” said Vince Holloway, 66, a former block club president in Englewood. “I understand procedures must first be followed but this could have been done last year. There’s no reason for that big, old building to still be open.”

Two community meetings are scheduled from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Kershaw Elementary School, 6450 S. Lowe Ave., on Jan. 14 and 23, followed by a public hearing from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at CPS headquarters, 42 W. Madison St.

And as far as staff goes, Bolton said CPS is working to find new employment for them.

“The district is working with all of the remaining employees to identify other positions for all who would like to continue working at CPS,” added Bolton. “No teachers were laid off and all of the teachers found employment at other schools.”

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