Sept. 05--Activists who want the city to accept their vision for the future of Dyett High School said plans to reopen the South Side building as an arts-focused neighborhood high school were made without their input and do not align with the community's wishes.
About a dozen activists will continue a hunger strike that began Aug. 17 despite the decision by Chicago Public Schools to reopen Dyett next fall, according to the Coalition to Revitalize Dyett High School.
One of the hunger strikers, Jitu Brown, said district CEO Forrest Claypool did not inform him of the Dyett decision until 15 minutes before it was announced Thursday.
"Once again, CPS has demonstrated that they don't respect the community's voice," said Brown, of the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization. "Bronzeville is not satisfied. We did not ask for an arts center."
Brown and other activists want to see Dyett, which in 2012 was slated to be phased out over three years because of poor performance and dwindling enrollment, reopened as a school focused on green technology.
In addition, the activists said Friday that they want the school to stay open until 8 p.m. and offer programs approved by the community.
"Until these demands are met, we will be on hunger strike," Brown said.
The district last October, bowing to community pressure, agreed to hear proposals to keep Dyett open. But the plan presented this week for the school did not match any of the three community proposals for the building on the northern edge of Washington Park.
CPS had planned a public hearing on the submissions for later this month. The district's hand was forced amid demonstrations that included the disruption of two public hearings on the city budget led by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
District and several elected officials have taken pains to paint the plan presented by the city as a victory for all sides.
"We hope that they will recognize that this is a win for everybody," Claypool said Thursday. "It may not be the green technology global leadership academy that they supported and that they were going to run, but it is, I think, something that really represents the will of the community."
"You're moving forward, so are we," Brown said Friday. "The hunger strike continues."
geoffz@tribpub.com
