Education
CPS Outlines Possible Options to Delay or Prevent Acero Charter School Closings
(Submitted photo)
Could Chicago Public Schools fund the Acero charter network to help it temporarily keep open some or all of the seven schools it plans to shutter? Could CPS absorb some of those schools to keep the campuses open?
Those were some of the options proposed by district officials Thursday following widespread pushback to the proposed closings of the seven Acero schools. According to CPS leaders, the district could consider paying Acero additional funds to keep those campuses open or even transform some of them into district-run schools.
But they warned some of those choices could set a dangerous precedent going forward.
“What we’ve heard from the families is that we should not close these schools,” CPS Chief Portfolio Officer Alfonso Carmona told the Board of Education during its Thursday meeting.
No Acero officials attended Thursday’s meeting, and the board did not take any official action on the options presented.
Acero’s Board of Directors in October adopted a resolution that allows for what it calls the “strategic reorganization of school operations,” a move that would lead to the closures of Cruz K-12 and Casas, Cisneros, Fuentes, Paz, Santiago and Tamayo elementary schools.
Under that plan, those schools would begin “winding down operations and close” in June 2025.
Acero said the closures, which are not yet finalized, were spurred by declining enrollment, increasing personnel and facilities maintenance costs and inadequate school facilities.
The closures could affect nearly 2,000 students and at least 270 teachers and school-based staff.
Since that announcement, students and families have been joined by Chicago Teachers Union leaders and other public officials in calling for a plan to prevent those closures.
Carmona and district officials on Thursday presented four options to the board. Those included funding Acero above the state-mandated per-capita tuition charge to ensure Acero had the money necessary to keep the schools open until 2026 when the network’s charter is set to expire.
That would mean the least disruptions for students and staff, but it could cost up to $3.2 million — not including any potential capital needs — and would set the precedent that CPS could “bail out” closing charter operators.
Another option would be for CPS to absorb all seven and convert them into district-run campuses by the 2026-27 academic year. That option would keep students at their same schools and could allow for the retention of some current Acero staff.
But officials said this would set a precedent that any self-closing charters could be absorbed, and because staffing requirements differ for district-run schools versus charter schools, not all Acero staff could likely be kept in place.
CPS also provided options to absorb five or six of the schools while still closing Paz and/or Cruz.
Or, as Carmona said, CPS could go forth with its standard operating procedure, which would be to transition all affected students into new schools while allowing all seven Acero campuses to close.
Carmona offered his own opinion, saying he believes that option should be ruled out and the board should instead consider the option to absorb five of the seven schools.
“We don’t have to provide any additional financial support to Acero,” he said, noting that both Paz and Cruz both have issues that would require large investments from CPS. “That (option) will also allow us enough time for us to eventually potentially transition those schools as district managed schools after the 2025-26 fiscal year.”
