(WTTW News)

Ten years ago, the Chicago Board of Education and former Mayor Rahm Emanuel decided to close nearly 50 public schools, mainly on the South and West sides of the city. Some buildings remain vacant; others are being transformed into community assets.

(WTTW News)
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Englewood had six elementary schools close in 2013 — the most in any neighborhood that year. But in the years since that upheaval, residents have found ways to help the community.

The former Trumbull Elementary School at Ashland and Foster avenues closed in 2013. The building is now used by the Chicago Waldorf School. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

Monday marks 10 years since the Chicago Board of Education's historic and controversial vote to close 50 public schools.

Shavon Coleman speaks out against a proposal to consolidate three schools in North Lawndale on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020. (Grace Del Vecchio / WTTW News)

Community members, parents and officials are voicing their concerns over a proposal to close three elementary schools with dwindling enrollment and replace them with a new, state-of-the-art facility.

The new Englewood STEM High School welcomes its inaugural class of students for the 2019-20 school year. (WTTW News)

On Tuesday, Chicago Public Schools will welcome the inaugural class of students to Englewood STEM High School, 18 months after the district voted to close four other local high schools.

Kwame Nkrumah Charter School and Urban Prep West Charter School have both failed to “provide a high quality education” for their students, the district says.

National Teachers Academy parent Elisabeth Greer, center, and Candace Moore, right, of the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, discuss their lawsuit outside the school Tuesday afternoon. (Matt Masterson / Chicago Tonight)

Why parents are hoping to reverse a decision that would turn their Level 1-plus elementary school on the city’s Near South Side into high school.

The former Attucks Elementary School building, located near Washington Park, is one of the 50 schools CPS closed in 2013. (Steven Kevil / Wikimedia Commons)

What happened to students caught up in one of the largest waves of school closures in U.S. history? A University of Chicago study suggests the controversial move did not result in academic gains.

(Matt Masterson / Chicago Tonight)

Community organizers opposing a new wave of school closures criticized Chicago’s pursuit of landing Amazon’s second headquarters, saying minority residents are being pushed aside to make way for the tech giant.

Plans for a new Englewood high school have been at the center of fierce debate for months. Wednesday’s vote marks the first wave of neighborhood school closures within the district since it shuttered 50 elementary schools in 2013.

As Chicago Public Schools moves to finalize the planned closures of four Englewood high schools, community members are claiming the district “manufactured consent” for the controversial plan.

(Chicago Public Schools)

Under a revised plan, students at Hope, Harper and TEAM Englewood high schools will now be allowed to stay at their schools through graduation instead of being forced out this summer.

About 15,000 Chicago Public Schools students are homeless, and a proposal to close four Englewood high schools would disproportionately harm part of that population, the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless says. 

A rendering of the proposed 1,200-student Englewood high school building. (Chicago Public Schools)

Chicago Public Schools’ plan to build a new $85 million high school in Englewood, and shutter four existing schools, is proving to be a hard sell for several area residents.

Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Jesse Sharkey said Monday that proposed school closings may violate its labor agreement with CPS. (Chicago Tonight)

Union claims schools closings may violate labor contract

As CPS presses ahead with plans to open a new, state-of-the-art high school in Englewood, the Chicago Teachers Union is stepping up its campaign against the most controversial part of that plan.

A new rendering released Friday of the proposed 1,200-student Englewood high school building. (Chicago Public Schools)

Chicago Public Schools is moving ahead with its plan to shutter four Englewood-area high schools in favor of what it says will be a new “state-of-the-art” neighborhood option with an $85 million price tag.