Document Details City's School Closing Plans

The Chicago Tribune has uncovered an internal Chicago Public Schools document suggesting that Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration has given more consideration to school closings than it has publicly acknowledged.

According to a Tribune report, the document, dated Sept. 10, weighs in on how many elementary and high schools to close and how to handle public reaction to the closings. The document reportedly analyzes the costs and benefits of specific scenarios—one section, for example, breaks down the closing or consolidation of 95 schools, although none are listed by name. The Tribune article states that the schools in question were primarily in minority communities on the city's South and West sides.

A CPS spokeswoman told the Tribune that "this plan was proposed by past leadership at CPS and is not supported by CEO [Barbara] Byrd-Bennett."  

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CPS recently appointed an independent Commission on School Utilization to hold public hearings in order to gather information and public feedback about under-utilized schools and advise the school board on its consolidation efforts. Both the commission and the district have repeatedly stated that there is currently no list of schools to be closed and that no decisions will be made until the commission has completed its community engagement process and given the district its recommendations.

North Side residents gathered at Horner Park last week for one of the commission's public hearings. Parents, educators and students themselves spoke up at the hearing, voicing opposition to the city's plans to expand charter schools and urging the commission not to close their neighborhood public schools.

The commission completed its initial round of public hearings on Dec. 17. According to the commission's website, it will give its final recommendations to CPS in early March, and the district will produce a list of potential schools to be closed no later than March 31. Members of the public who were unable to make it to the hearings can still submit feedback online.

For a more detailed examination of the CPS document, read the full Tribune story.