O'Shea Backs Off from School Merger Proposal, Parents Elated

CHICAGO, IL -- On the eve of what could be the second Chicago teachers’ strike in four years, Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th) announced he would not be merging two neighborhood grammar schools.

In September, O’Shea laid out a school reorganization plan to relieve overcrowding in at Mt. Greenwood Elementary, deteriorating infrastructure at Esmond Elementary School in Morgan Park, and what he described as declining enrollment at Sutherland and Kellogg elementary schools.

Part of that reorganization plan was to consolidate Kellogg with Sutherland, and move Keller Regional Gifted Center into the Kellogg building. Mt. Greenwood would its sixth, seventh and eighth grades into the former Keller building.

Parents quickly mobilized “Save Kellogg” and “Save Sutherland” groups and banded together in opposing the alderman’s proposal. After major blow back at community forums, O’Shea announced Monday afternoon that he had decided not

After major blow back from parents and community members, O’Shea announced in an email blast that he had decided not to consolidate the two schools, but still thinks his proposal is a good one.

“As I have stated publicly, I believe that this proposal makes the best use of our limited resources and would significantly improve educational options for all 19th Ward children,” the alderman said. “However, strong community support is necessary for any reorganization to achieve the desired result.”

O’Shea said after visiting each of the impacted schools, it became “evident that parents at Kellogg and Sutherland Elementary Schools do not believe that a merger is in the best interests of their children. As such, I will not pursue this component of the proposal.”

The alderman did appear to leave the door open for future possible consolidation of Sutherland and Kellogg, stating that “declining enrollment” remained a serious concern which still needed to be addressed.

“Moving forward, I will work with the Local School Councils at both schools on possible remedies,” he said.

During community meetings, LSC representatives at Sutherland and Kellogg said that both of their schools were slightly over capacity.

O’Shea also said he is asking Chicago Public Schools to explore options to address overcrowding at Mt. Greenwood and major capital investment in Esmond’s century-plus infrastructure.

Michael Doherty, spokesman for Save Kellogg, issued a statement on behalf of the K-8 school’s parents and supporters.

"We are very happy to hear Alderman O'Shea has modified his 19th Ward schools plan in response to the many voices in the community who opposed it.

The effort to close Kellogg and overcrowd Sutherland would have adversely affected the children of our ward and caused significant economic and neighborhood development issues. As we've said from the beginning, we support the need to alleviate overcrowding at Mt. Greenwood and improve Esmond, but not at the expense of other public schools in the neighborhood.

The best way to provide for quality, diverse public schools is to provide resources where needed and engage in long-term work that solves other systemic problems. We look forward to working with Alderman O'Shea on this to the benefit of all in the 19th Ward."

Photo: Ald. Matt O'Shea, 19th Ward