(WTTW News)
Chicago’s Board of Education this week will vote on a resolution demanding the Acero charter network return any unspent public funding if it goes ahead with plans to close seven schools at the end of the current academic year.
The board is set to meet outside of its typical monthly schedule Thursday in a special meeting where it will take up only a small handful of matters, including a resolution to maintain the seven charter schools Acero plans to close.
Acero currently operates 15 schools, and the resolution states that its leadership must meet with the board to “mutually discuss and explore alternatives that enable Acero to continue operating” each of those schools through June 30, 2026.
But if Acero proceeds with closing seven schools before the next school year as planned, then the operator “shall return all unspent public funds and property as required under 105 ILCS 5/27A-10.10 and Acero’s Charter School Agreement.”
The resolution states its action may also be considered when it comes time to renew Acero’s charter agreement in 2026.
Acero leadership last month announced plans to cease operations at Cruz K-12 and Casas, Cisneros, Fuentes, Paz, Santiago and Tamayo Elementary Schools. Those closures would impact more than 2,000 students and around 270 educational staffers.
The charter network said the closures were spurred by declining enrollment, increasing personnel and facilities maintenance costs and inadequate school facilities.
Since then, Acero families and Chicago Teachers Union leadership have pleaded with Chicago Public Schools to absorb the schools into the district so they could remain open.
The resolution also states that CPS will extend its GoCPS application deadline for Acero students to Dec. 15 in order to “minimize the potential disruption.”
The board in September approved a resolution vowing not to close any public schools before 2027, but that nonbinding measure does not cover charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately operated.
The members of the board that approved that measure also all resigned en masse last month and have since been replaced by new mayoral appointees. One of those new appointees — board president Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson — has also since stepped down under pressure after a series of antisemitic, misogynistic and conspiratorial social media posts he made generated widespread outrage.
The six-member board on Thursday will also vote on a resolution “cementing” CPS as a welcoming district for all students and vote to authorize the retention of an outside law firm.
