Alderman Raymond Lopez (15) slammed Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool and Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson for their plans to close West Englewood’s Harper High School on Monday. “From the very beginning, this has been a top-down endeavor by Chief Education Officer Jackson to tell the community what it needs,” said Ald. Lopez. “CPS should be dedicating more resources and options for West Englewood–not shutting down the community’s only neighborhood high school.” Last June, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Claypool, and Jackson officially proposed to close Paul Robeson High School, Harper High, John Hope Academy, and TEAM Englewood Community Academy High School, and build a new high school at the site of Paul Robeson, at 6835 S. Normal Blvd. The school is projected to open in 2019-2020 school year. 2018 marks the expiration date of a 5-year commitment from CPS to not close any more schools. “CPS is solely responsible for the decline at Harper High School,” said Ald. Lopez. “CPS has continuously deferred maintenance on $38,000,000 in much-needed school improvements. CPS gave local charter schools access to new student enrollment information. CPS moved at a snail’s pace during discussions for new programming and outside partnerships, jeopardizing a $100,000 urban agriculture partnership in 2017 alone.”
“I applaud CPS for making an investment in our neighborhoods,” said Ald. Lopez. “However, those investments should not cost the community its history.” Before the new high school was proposed, Ald. Lopez said, he had been working to reinvigorate the high school’s potential. He was in talks with CPS and the Montessori Englewood School about a possible K-12 colocation. Since the closure announcement, Ald. Lopez spent the summer working to raise community awareness, collecting over 700 signatures asking CPS to keep Harper High School open. Additionally, Ald. Lopez offered two different paths for keeping the school open. One proposal, created by the former director of the Chicago Training Center, Montana Bush, called for creating a two-tier vocational and international baccalaureate curriculum fused with non-traditional sports options, entrepreneurial partnerships and community-focused repurposing of the entire building. Another proposal would transform the high school into the city’s first veterinary academy, possibly building on partnerships with University of Illinois School of Veterinary Medicine, Chicago Animal Care and Control and local animal advocacy groups. Five aldermen represent the Greater Englewood area. In December, Ald. Lopez was the first alderman to oppose the closures. In June, Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6) voiced his support for keeping Harper open, citing safety concerns. Ald. Lopez said he believes a meeting with CEO Claypool, himself and the community is a must before CPS takes any further action related to Harper’s future.
