Chicago Public Schools Announces Virtual FY26 Capital Budget Community Meeting

Chicago Public Schools Announces Virtual FY26 Capital Budget Community Meeting

Sixth Annual Capital Community Meeting Seeks to Engage Community Members

CHICAGO – Chicago Public Schools (CPS) announced that it will host five meetings next week to engage communities on capital priorities as the District works to develop its Fiscal Year 2026 Capital Plan. The capital plan is a part of the District’s overall budget that will be presented to the Board of Education later this summer. The meetings - which will be led by the CPS Capital Department, Office of Equity, and Office of Family and Community Engagement (FACE) - aim to provide communities with an understanding of the District’s capital planning process and help the District prioritize critical capital needs.

“We encourage all CPS families and community members to participate in the capital investment process,” said CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. “Community engagement is foundational to ensuring that our facilities and resources work to serve our students as effectively as possible. We look forward to hearing from our CPS community and incorporating feedback.”

In addition to community meetings, the District is also collecting public feedback through an online survey. Members of the community who are unable to participate in the meetings are encouraged to complete the survey, which opened on April 1 and can be completed until 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 17.

Those interested in the meeting listed below should register online or tune in to the live-stream on CPS’ YouTube Channel.

Tuesday, April 19: 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. (English, Spanish) In-Person, CPS Colman Administrative Offices, 4640 S. State St.

Consistent with prior years, the District will also hold public hearings to discuss the FY26 capital plan after the District’s budget proposal is developed and released this summer. The CPS facility portfolio consists of 522 campuses and 803 buildings. The average CPS facility is more than 85 years old. Since FY16, CPS has invested approximately four billion in capital improvements across the District and has identified more than three billion in additional critical facility needs. This number is projected to increase based on the 2023-2024 Facility Assessments.

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is dedicated to providing a high-quality education to all students, beginning with the District’s free full-day preschool programming for four-year-old scholars and continuing at neighborhood, magnet and selective-enrollment elementary and high schools that provide a rigorous K-12 education with schools that specialize in the fine arts, world language and culture, dual language, STEM, International Baccalaureate (IB), classical programs, and more. The rising District-wide freshmen-on-track and high school graduation rates reflect the hard work of the CPS community, including families, staff, and students across 635 schools. CPS celebrates the diversity of its more than 325,000 students who cite more than 180 home languages. Learn more about CPS at www.cps.edu and connect with CPS on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.



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