Chicago’s Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to take over Chicago High School for the Arts and committed to continuing its conservatory arts program that offers students specialized training from professional artists.
The decision means the Humboldt Park school will remain open after fears that it could shutter. The operator of the publicly funded, privately managed school announced last month that it would not renew its contract with Chicago Public Schools due to financial deficits.
Still, questions remain about how CPS will fund the arts program that parents and students urged the school board to maintain.
“This board is completely supportive of ChiArts,” board president Sean Harden said. “The challenge becomes … to figure out how we identify the resources to preserve the conservatory, and that’s the commitment you have from the board.”
The board at Tuesday’s special meeting also approved $1.4 million to Epic Academy to keep the charter open for the rest of the school year before allowing it to close in June. The school’s board had previously announced that Epic could not operate beyond this school year, citing financial woes partly due to declining enrollment.
Under the CPS plan for ChiArts, the school will become a district-run fine arts magnet school. ChiArts students spend five hours each day in academic classes and three hours every afternoon in a conservatory where they focus on an arts discipline, such as dance, visual arts or theater. That differs from fine and performing arts schools where students take one or two classes in their discipline, whether that is visual art or dance.
CPS funding pays for the academic portion of student’s days, while the money for its conservatory program comes from donors through the ChiArts Foundation.
Without that foundation’s help, CPS estimates it’ll take $5.5 million annually for the district’s Department of Arts Education to run the program. CPS officials previously proposed making the conservatory open to all students, not just those enrolled in ChiArts. But board members said ChiArts families were unhappy with that proposal.
Board members congratulated ChiArts families who have shown up at meetings to advocate for their school. But they said the community is going to have to help raise funds for the program because CPS has its own financial difficulties.
“Now we need you to help us find partners that fit you well, that keep you in the shape that you love,” said board member Ebony DeBerry, whose district is on the North Side. “It’s going to take a group like you all to find the right partners that keep their commitment to your futures like we just have.”
The board hopes to address funding for the conservatory program at a January board meeting.
Epic Academy students and teachers could stick together
Leading up to the vote on the Epic charter school, families accused the district of failing to propose a plan that would keep the community together.
In response, West Side district board member Jitu Brown introduced an amendment at Tuesday’s meeting that called on CPS to develop a transition plan for students that makes it possible for them to transfer together to another school and — to the extent possible — stay with their teachers.
There had been concerns that requiring teachers to follow their students to their new school would interfere with a principal’s authority over their staff. But board members stressed that the amendment is intended to encourage school leaders to interview those teachers.
“What we are hoping to have is the opportunity for a community that loves one another, has built bonds, built confidence, has built trust, to stay together to the maximum extent possible,” board member Debby Pope said.
Epic, which is housed in an old CPS school, bought a new building with hopes of renovating it and expanding before running out of money. The district said the lease for that building will be terminated and the property will revert to the district.
