Capitol Fax: New hybrid Chicago school board plan floated

I found this update at the CapFax yesterday on where a new hybrid school board proposal for Chicago is in Springfield.

New hybrid Chicago school board plan floated https://t.co/bN4ZcYY5Gu

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) May 26, 2021

CPS schools are closed on Wednesday #Chiberia

Many were concerned, especially on social media and with temps going to very chilly lows CPS is cancelling classes on Wednesday.

BREAKING: Chicago Public Schools has announced that schools will be closed Wednesday due to sub-zero temperatures and potentially record-setting windchill values. https://t.co/IstgmNO2yh

— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) January 29, 2019

And here's the official word by the CPS' CEO

The safety of our students is the district’s highest priority. All afterschool activities will be canceled tomorrow, January 29th. All CPS schools will be closed on Wednesday, January 30th.

— Janice Jackson, EdD (@janicejackson) January 29, 2019

If you're looking for a warming center here's some information posted on Saturday. Feel free to call 311 to find one near you.

Applying for a CPS school

There is a streamlined process for parents & students to apply for Chicago Public Schools and programs. Whether for elementary or high school students or non-selective enrollment programs or selective enrollment programs.

• Visit go.cps.edu
• Also watch the video below regarding usage of this site [VIDEO] 

Mechanics: I Ran for Local School Council and Maybe I Even Won!

The author of this article - Phil Huckleberry - discusses his experience as a candidate for his neighborhood school's LSC. He apparently won the election, but discovered at a recent meeting that the results have been challenged. That school's LSC won't meeting until next year after new elections, and the school's LSC functions would be governed instead by CPS' central office. Something pertinent Mr. Huckleberry said in his piece:

Now, this story isn't about me and my awe-inspiring 21 votes. It's not about whether or not there was some sort of problem with the election.

This is a story about bureaucracy.

I can rail against charter schools or say negative things about the mayor just like a lot of people who write words that get put on the Internet. I can talk about how great Karen Lewis is just like the next cherished Chicago journalist.

But here is the crux of the situation: Bureaucracies put bureaucracy first. And the reality is that Chicago Public Schools is a horrifically clunky bureaucracy, steeped in nonsensical inefficiencies, ultimately overseen by an unelected board who are themselves nothing more than hand-picked highly privileged bureaucrats. The system is failing its students because the system is more important than the students.

There are a lot of smart and dedicated administrators within CPS. But things are never truly going to turn around so long as everything is about CPS and not about the actual students.

I suggest you read the whole thing, and of course we hope to hear your thoughts on this.

Ward Room: Englewood Parents Protest CPS School Closings

View more videos at: http://nbcchicago.com.

[VIDEO] If you check out RAGE's fb page you will see how they consider themselves hard hit by CPS' plan to close schools. They provide this breakdown of which schools will be affected and where students are expected to attend.

In the video above Englewood parents involved in the group Action Now marches at the home of a CPS board room filmed by our local NBC affiliate.

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

Help Wanted- Volunteers to serve on local PTA's

At the Burnside Elementary Open House last week I was disappointed to hear that the PTA was in jeopardy of being disbanded because of a lack of participation. The president, Principal and regional PTA representative made pleas for parents to get involved. So if you are a parent, teacher or resident of a child or a neighbor of the following schools

Park Manor

Deneen

Ruggles

Neil

Dixon

Pirie

Gillespie

Shedd

McDade

Hirsch

Harlan

and any other school in our community GET INVOLVED!!

Woman who abandoned child arrested on warrant

Well this woman was already on the hook for abondoning her child at our neighborhood Secretary of State facility @ 99th & King Drive. She's done that again unfortunately!

A woman who allegedly abandoned a 6-month-old baby at a South Side police station Friday afternoon was arrested on a warrant for failing to show up for a court appearance in relation to a charge of endangering the same child in September, 2009, police said.

An arrest warrant was issued Oct. 21 for Matisha Goens, 28, of the 7000 block of South Crandon Avenue, after she failed to show up for a court appearance that day in Domestic Violence Court after being charged in September with endangering the health and welfare of a child, according to police.

She was charged for allegedly leaving the same child unattended in a car in a parking lot of a Secretary of State facility on the 9900 block of South King Drive, according to police. For that, she was released on an individual recognizance bond and told to appear at the court hearing Oct. 21, according to police.

Goens was located by police Monday after allegedly leaving the same 6-month-old infant girl in a stroller inside the Grand Crossing District police station Friday afternoon.

She has not been charged with anything as of Tuesday morning in Friday’s incident but police were still investigating.

You know the EveryBlock feed has been blown-up with a lot of crime stories lately! Mostly incidents involving guns!

Father Battles CPS Cell Phone Ban

I think that I'm with the father on this one, although that phone shouldn't ring during class.

This opens up another question. Should our young people carry cell phones to class at all? Especially if they are in elementary school?

Story from WFLD-TV!