Vote for your Local School Councils TODAY!

Today, the residents of Chicago can vote for their Local School Council (LSC).

Did you know that?  While we know parents at a particular school would be voting, the residents who live IN a neighborhood school's neighborhood boundaries can ALSO vote, even if you don't have a student there.

The voting is a bit confusing... most schools have 6 parents offices and 2 community offices to fill. But voters can only vote for 5 candidates. Now, they can be any combination of parents and communitiy.

For more information (such as which school you are eligible to vote in), see the Chicago Public Schools website. (Note: due to high interest, the CPS website might be down or nonresponsive. Please check again) The LSC elections map will let you know where you should vote.

LSC Elections extended

We just want to remind everyone that the deadline for Local School Council candidate applications has been extended until March 14.

Many of our schools need members. Please consider being a part of it. If you're a CPS parent, you can still join your local school's council as a community representative.

CHICAGO – Chicago – Chicago Public Schools (CPS) today announced that it has extended its Local School Council (LSC) election candidate filing deadline from February 26 to March 14, giving parents and community members an extra two weeks to submit their nominating forms. Elections will take place on April 7 for elementary schools and April 8 for high schools during report card pick-up from 6:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

"I strongly encourage any parent or community member who is passionate about education and helping our students reach their fullest potential to run for their Local School Council," said CPS CEO Byrd-Bennett. "Getting involved at the school level is great way to have a positive impact on your community and helps the District achieve its overall goal of ensuring 100 percent of our students are college-ready and 100 percent are college-bound."

LSC representatives serve as an important link between a school's administration, the community, CPS and students, and play a significant role in decision-making to boost student academic achievement. Elected LSC representatives will serve a two-year term, beginning at the start of School Year 2014-2015 (SY14-15). Each LSC is made up of six parents, two community members, two teachers, one non-teacher staff member and the school's principal. High School LSCs also have a student representative.

Parents and community members who are interested in running for their LSC must submit nominating forms at their respective school by March 14, 2014 at 3:00 p.m. Those eligible to run for their LSC include parents whose children attend the school, community members, and the teachers and non-teaching staff from the school.

The forms, along with additional information, can be found at www.cps.edu/lsc, in the main office of any CPS school, CPS Network Offices, and the Office of LSC Relations located at CPS' downtown headquarter. For more information, please call the Office of LSC Relations at (773) 553-1400.

The Chicago Public Schools serves approximately 400,000 students. It is the nation's third-largest school system

The original press release is here:
http://www.cps.edu/News/Press_releases/Pages/PR1_02_24_2014.aspx

Deneen LSC elections TODAY! (also Robeson, Guggenheim and others)

I just happened to be on the website for LSC's today, and checked regarding the supplemental elections - where schools that didn't have enough people running for an seat on their LSC would have a second election.

Deneen Elementary School (7240 S. Wabash Ave.) - now an AUSL , essentially is having the entire election on that date. While some schools may have been missing a few parent or communty slots, Deneen needs to fill ALL of their offices.

Guggenheim Elementary School (7141 S. Morgan St.) is seeking to fill the same number of slots.

Robeson High School (6835 S. Normal Blvd.) is also looking to fill 5 parent slots.

If you are a parent of a student, or live in the immediate community around the school, you have until 7pm TODAY to vote. Some of the serious candidates will be out near the school, so you can meet them and decide to vote for them,

Here's the link for the elections --> http://www.cps.edu/Pages/LSCElections.aspx

Local School Councils need YOU as a candidate

Tomorrow is the NEW extended deadline for LSC elections. Thousands of slots remian open.
The map doesn't specify the need, but these include parent representatives (who can live anywhere in the city, as long as a child is a student), but also community representaives (who live within the school's immediate area. Contact the school for details). Community reps can include grandparents who do NOT have custody of a student in the school, but they need to live within the boundaries.

 In the 6th Ward, these include (according to the map):

• Deneen
• Dixon
• Ashe
• Neill
• McDade (surprisingly!)
• Gillespie
• Harlan
• Bennett
• Lenart (also a surpise)
• Westcott
• IDOC/Healy HS (8007 S. Cottage Grove)
• Harvard
• Yale
• Parker
• Banneker
• Robseson
• Kershaw
• Reed
• Hinton

You may also run in OTHER schools, such as Ruggles or Burnside, but they have at least have enough candidates to fill open slots, but a CIVIL election with more options is preferred.  These elections do NOT have to be like our recent local elections. Not at all -- but rather ways for parents to see other motivated leaders they can choose from to help their school.

Click on the map on CPS's web site  to find your local/child's school.

The process is quick and you can even download your forms ahead of time.

Elections are April 18 and 19 (for elementary and hig schools, respectively.).

Election judges are also needed. This is a temporary paid position, and you are not tied geographically.

For any questions about this information , call the Office of Local School Council Relations at 773-553-1400

And let the blog know by comment or at blog (at) thesixthward (dot) us