'We Are Closing Too Many Schools' Alderman Says

Elementary schools in Ravenswood will take in students from Chicago Public Schools buildings on a list for closure.

District officials announced the plan to close 54 schools on Thursday, pending a May 22 Board of Education vote for final approval. The move will effect more than 30,000 children and 1,000 teachers in an effort to reduce a $1 billion budget deficit next year. 

“I am very concerned about the CPS plan to close 54 schools,” Ward 47 Ald. Ameya Pawar said in an email to residents on Friday. “People move into communities for schools, parks and other public infrastructure. In many ways our schools are the heart of our communities. If we continue to close neighborhood schools, how can we expect communities to thrive?”

While no schools in Ward 47—covering Lincoln Square and Northcenter—will close, local schools will take in students from the ones that do. Students from Trumbull Elementary can either transfer to McPherson, McCutcheon or Chappell elementaries.

Pawar said that more air conditioning, new furniture and playground upgrades will come to McPherson as a result of the new students.

With both McPherson and Trumbull having large special education programs—37 percent of students at Trumbull are special education—officials predict most of those children will head to McPherson. 

"We are happy to take any kid at the school," said Bob Farster, a Local School Council member at McPherson Elementary. "I don't see any issues from our end."

Pawar said McPherson principal Carmen Mendoza has the teachers, staff and resources for two primary autism classes and one each of intermediate and upper grade autism classes.

Aside from Trumbull closing, Ravenswood’s Courtney Elementary will move from Berteau and Hermitage to Stockton Elementary in Uptown. The two schools are less than a mile away and the move will creating more space for students, CPS officials said.

During the transition, the alderman said he’d work with CPS, welcoming school principals and the Chicago Police department to make sure children travel safely to and from school. 

Read more: 

• Local School Closing Plans Detailed in CPS Document
• VIDEO: Community Feedback to CPS: Zero School Closings
• Local Schools Safe from CPS Closure