Nov. 06--Chicago Public Schools is moving to close four privately run charter school campuses on the South Side after this school year because of poor academic performance.
The closings would affect about 1,200 students and would have to be approved by the Chicago Board of Education, which last month gave its assent to a new method for putting underperforming charters on an academic warning list that can lead to them being shut down.
The buildings set for closure, three of which are managed by small operators, had all previously been on a similar list and were subject to what CPS recently described as a higher level of scrutiny.
Three of the affected campuses will have their charters revoked, the district said. A fourth has reached the end of its contract, which will not be renewed.
A least one of the schools plans to push back against district's recommendation, which can be appealed to the state, while another said it was reviewing its options.
The process to close the buildings would be more abrupt than in early 2013, when CPS laid out a plan to close two charter high schools over the course of three years so students who were enrolled at the time would have an opportunity to graduate. The district moved later that year to shutter about 50 district-run schools it said were underutilized.
District CEO Forrest Claypool, in a statement, said the proposed closings should "signal to charters not performing well, that they need to either improve or pack their bags because they will not be able to operate in Chicago."
The affected schools are:
--Amandla Charter High School, 6800 S. Stewart Ave.
--Shabazz-Sizemore Academy Elementary School, 6936 S. Hermitage Ave.
--CICS-Hawkins High School, 801 E. 133rd Place.
--Bronzeville Lighthouse Charter Elementary School, 8 W. Root St.
State law allows CPS to revoke a charter contract if the school fails to implement a turnaround plan within two years. The state's charter school commission can reverse CPS' decision.
CPS said Amandla, Shabazz-Sizemore and CICS-Hawkins were on a prior warning list. The district said it reviewed the schools' remediation plans but "determined they failed to adequately implement their plans and improve outcomes for students."
Those schools were in the second-lowest rating level under the district's five-level school quality standard.
Amandla officials, whose school is directly adjacent to Robeson High School and not far from charters operated by the Noble Network of Charter Schools and Urban Prep Academies, said they will fight CPS' decision.
"Our students, families, and staff have already begun to mobilize in an effort to influence the Board of Education to reject the recommendation to close Amandla," Chief Operating Officer Sarah Brennan said in a statement.
"Our primary objective in fighting this recommendation is to ensure that all of our students and families are able to remain part of the strong academic community we have developed over the past 8 years and not see their educational experience disrupted or limited to fewer quality options," Brennan said.
Andrew Broy of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools said Hawkins presents "the most difficult case."
"The neighborhood zoned school is Fenger (High School)," he said. "I am fairly confident most of the families won't like that as their zoned school," Broy said.
"The challenge Hawkins has is it's very difficult to get a high school that far south," Broy said. "I'm really concerned about the student impact at Hawkins. We're stuck with a geographic area of the city that doesn't have a lot of great alternatives."
Mike Bower, interim CEO of the Chicago International Charter School organization that operates Hawkins, said officials were assessing the performance of all its campuses. The Hawkins campus serves seventh- through 12th-graders, and has the lowest enrollment in CICS' large charter portfolio.
Two dozen seniors were enrolled at Hawkins this year.
"We understand that these kinds of decisions have a major effect on the lives of the students and families we serve -- and we have the obligation to consider all possible options," Bower said in a statement.
The organization's former CEO is Elizabeth Purvis, a top education aide to Gov. Bruce Rauner.
CPS said Bronzeville Lighthouse failed to meet its performance standards during its contract term. The school is in the district's lowest quality rating. The building, located in the midst of several district-operated elementary schools, had about 470 students enrolled during an official district head count this year.
"Closing a school is always a last resort, but after reviewing the performance of these four schools, it is clear our students need and deserve better options," district Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson said in a statement.
CPS asked affected families looking to move to a district-operated school to call the district's access and enrollment office. The current window for open-enrollment school applications closes Dec. 11, the district said.
jjperez@tribpub.com
