catalyst-chicago.org

As part of preparing a new $659 school construction and capital spending plan, officials used a new formula to determine school utilization. In the process, they determined that the district has 130,000 empty seats--a quarter of the seats available in schools throughout the city.

That figure, a result of the district’s declining enrollment, shows the extent of building under-utilization throughout CPS. Yet when deciding how to invest their capital improvement dollars, Chief Administrative Officer Tim Cawley said Thursday that officials steered away from buildings that might be shut down in the next five to 10 years.

At a sparsely attended Thursday night forum at CPS headquarters, three of CPS’ most well-established charter school operators pitched their plans to open up 10 new charters over the next two school years. 

Posted Jan. 23, 2008: CPS officials plan to announce the next round of school closings and restructurings Thursday afternoon. In recent statements, Mayor Daley and Schools CEO Arne Duncan have indicated that the district will close or consolidate under-enrolled schools—as many as 50 over the next five years—to save money. School officials say students would be moved to nearby schools with more programming options.