When school board president Sean Harden met with directors this week as part of the constant efforts to emphasize transparency and inclusion, he was honest.
“Can we win the lottery?” He jokes. “I’m faceted, but I’m real.”
The discussion of a round table on Tuesday night hosted the directors of Chicago and the Association of Administrators at Peterson Elementary at North Park. The school leaders from Edgewater to Austin expressed concerns about the impact of changes in leadership, the need for a fair distribution of resources and the delay of the budget.
Harden was not ashamed to directly deal with the Chicago cash schools of $ 529 million, saying that he wanted a contribution of the community, while making difficult decisions for cuts for the upcoming school year. Despite the extensive unknowns that emerged in the coming months and years, it remained positive.
Usually, school level budgets are released between March and May to ensure that principals, local school councils and school communities have enough planning time. A recently expanded, 21-member school board has rejected the release of those budgets that Harden attributes on Tuesday to the fiscal challenges of the district, but also of increasing pain with a governing body three times greater than the previous seven-member council.
“It’s painful, honestly, but it’s also what the public wanted in a democratically chosen school board,” he said. “So you get what you asked.”
The target date for the release of these budgets is mid -May. The area aims to arrange its full budget in early July.
The state legislation in 2021 created a roadmap for switching to a chosen school board, long -standing efforts from community activists who have stated that their votes are ignored by former mayors who give priority to privatization to community schools. Under the mayor Brandon Johnson, a former organizer of the Chicago Teachers Union, some members of the board have stressed that they are in the first place to put votes in the community – a change, from how things were done before.
Tuesday negotiations, which will be a regular practice, are an example of this, said Kia Banks, CPAA Vice President. Banks said communication with Hardon, since he was brought on board by Johnson last December, has been “pleasant” and that the president’s thinking is “strategic” and “inclusive”.
“One thing that brings me joy today is to see us deal with something that is proactive,” she said. “I often see us react and then try to fix the mess that someone else creates.”
Strict budget, difficult solutions
Harden has inherited a budget that has already been pressed by the end of federal financing of the pandemic and accumulated debt over decades, he told directors on Tuesday. He had to take into account the potential for more financing cuts due to “federal attack attacks”, which he said there was no way to prepare.
“You need to understand what I am fighting,” he told the predictive persons sitting around him on tables arranged in a rectangle. “You may disagree with him, but you will appreciate the tools I have, the restrictions I have, and the heavy solutions that are ahead of us.”
According to a presentation given by district officials of the board members at the end of April, received by The Tribune, the board staring at the barrel of half a billion in the red will “have to identify $ 529 million in costs”, which will be applied at administrative and school level.
This estimate does not include payment worth $ 175 million for a CPS retirement fund, for which it is not on its way to be pushed by the mayor.
Proposals for discounts floating in the presentation were: cuts of the Central Administrative Office; Reducing maintenance throughout the city, such as building maintenance or reduced professional development; or reducing individual schools. CPS has not considered deep school cuts in recent years.
Regional officers offer a reduction in school financing by $ 200 million to $ 260 million, while maintaining a reasonable class, according to the presentation. They evaluate in the presentation that over 1600 positions can be cut. The support of staff for high need students, such as trainees in English or students with disabilities, will be a priority, according to the presentation.
In a statement, the CPS said it remained “fully committed to minimizing the impact on school communities” and “wants to minimize the reduction of staff.”
“The scenarios presented so far to the board members are not recommendations, but illustrations of what may be needed in the absence of additional funding,” the district officers said in a statement. “Administration and the Council will exhaust all options to interfere with additional funding with our countries and local partners.”
Harden estimated on Tuesday that the Council is considering 1500 potential redundancies.
“These types of actions are absolutely hassle -free and none of the mayor to the President of the board and everyone between them wants to see this to happen,” he said.
Other proposed abbreviations would affect programming after school and operations such as switching on guards or transport costs, the presentation implies.
The directors were given the opportunity to write their questions about Hordon on index cards while he listened and recognized their individual concerns. They asked how decisions would be made on which schools would see cuts. He urged them to contact him directly.
“Reach me … If there is something you want to know, something that is present, something that doesn’t sit properly, and this affects your ability to manage your school community,” he said.
The directors also pressed Harden for answers on how the transition to a new CPS chief would be processed to facilitate the interruption of the school level. Pedro Martinez, the current CEO, left his post in mid -June after the fight against the school board for finance.
“What is happening here will not affect what is happening every day (in schools),” Harden said. “You will make sure your babies take care of a hook and a crook.”
As a graduate of CPS and a real estate consultant and developer for his daily work, Harden acknowledged the financial source of maintaining the infrastructure of destroyed buildings in the area. Asked the said question about the potential of closure of schools, he said that this type of solution needed to “come from the community”.
More funding for the country or city area will be crucial in the coming months and years, Harden said. But both organizations have their own challenges to grow with the upcoming budgets.
However, Harden remained optimistic.
“I have a pretty vast network of partnerships and I know how to use the mayor,” he said on Tuesday. “It’s a part of it to know the question and what we should do.”
A day later, he began to beat the school council votes to change the pre -approved resolution of the board to help obtain the second by the mayor’s command to be temporarily acting CPS Executive Officer.