Special CPS school board meeting aims to prevent closure of Acero schools
The Chicago Board of Education will hold a special meeting Thursday to consider a resolution designed to pressure a charter school operator to keep open seven schools it plans to close in June.
The resolution demands that Acero Schools, a charter network of 15 campuses, appear before the board on a yet-to-be-determined date to discuss alternatives to closings. It also threatens Acero, saying that the renewal on the contract for its other eight schools could be in jeopardy should it go forward with the closings.
Charter operators are private organizations that receive public money to run public charter schools. Acero’s contract is up in June 2026.
The special meeting is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at a Chicago Public Schools-owned building at 4655 S. Dearborn St. The next regularly scheduled monthly board meeting is Dec. 12. Typically the November and December meetings are combined.
This will be the third meeting of board members who were chosen by Mayor Brandon Johnson after his first appointed board resigned in October. One of those newly appointed members, the president, resigned and now only six are on the board, which is a quorum and enough to do business.
A new 21-member partly elected, partly appointed board will be seated in January, but some of the current members might stay on.
The resolution to “Maintain Acero Attendance Centers,” says the closings, which will affect about 2,000 students and 270 staff, “could cause substantial disruption and harm” and “are inconsistent with the educational mission of the Board and call into question whether the Board should renew Acero’s Charter School Agreement in 2026.”
In addition to discussing the Acero resolution, the board will take up a resolution that acknowledges that “the 2024 Presidential Election may have caused fear, concern, confusion, sadness, anger, or anxiety in CPS staff, students, and their families.”
It goes on to say that the school district is committed to being a place where all students are welcome and that it “will not provide assistance to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the enforcement of federal civil immigration law. Therefore, ICE will not be permitted access to CPS facilities or personnel except in the rare instances in which CPS is provided with a criminal warrant.”
The board also plans to go into closed session to discuss contract negotiations. The school district has been in negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union since the spring. The principals association is also negotiating a contract.
Sarah Karp covers education for WBEZ.