School?

I was unable to make that Near meeting Monday night regarding the proposed school at LSE. Did any interesting topics come up, or was there a time-line given for the school?

Becca

Here are all of my notes.

The meeting was basically discussing options, it sounds like the city and other parties want to hear from the Community to start the ball rolling. i.e. decide things like size and type of school (public or charter). I think the developer also has to decide what plot of land to give. either east of the Shoreham (between Shoreham and Lancaster) or possibly west of The Tides over by the Fire Station and Swissotel.

Slides from Richard Ward shows various mentions about a school in this neighborhood on various (planning / development approval?) documents over the years.

One document mentioned a building to be shared with the Park District.

The most recent mention in 2001 (Lakeshore East approval?) mentioned there should be a school by Dec. 31st 2008.

The only real reason we don't have a school is that the city lacks the money.

As of now: No Location, No Money, No Decision. Also the kind of school has not been determined.

Elizabeth Fergus of the Chicago International Charter School Foundation which runs 10? school in Chicago has taken a preliminary look at what kind of school would work for this neighborhood, demographics and economics.

If a Charter school were to operate a location here, either a Grant or a Loan would be given to the charter school for the contruction., this has not been determined.

The height of the school is a consideration, a nine-story school may not be safe for elementary level, a nine story building needs nine sets of bathrooms. Also, if the school is too high it can block views.

The Community must make the application for a new school. (to city or charter organization?).

There was a discussion about various types of school, my notes are not real clear on all this though
- selective enrollment schools
- at least 8 (what?) standing
- contract (w/ city of Chicago) vs. Charter school
- performance school - also freed from some restrictions.

Fergus estimated what it would cost for parking. Teachers, Parents, etc. assuming $12-13 / day:
$400,000 annual cost is a conservative estimate for parking.

Presumably it would be nice if there was land to build a parking structure.

Fergus also made an estimate that 15% of students would qualify for free lunch - much lower that other Chicago schools. This would add a 500k cost to the budget compared to the average Chicago school. Between parking and a student population with fewer free lunches a school in this neighborhood would have roughly 900k in higher costs compared to similar schools.

Some in the audience were restless "why are we listening to you" try to sell us this school if it requires so many other players to make the decision ? (Mayor, City of Chicago School Super, etc.)

The playing field is wide open. Perhaps the community should hold some more informational meetings and invite people like Fergus to discuss the options, and then pass a survey around, tabulate responses and tell Mayor and Natarus.

Question: how will the school affect property taxes? Ans. No special assessment, should not increase property taxes in any way for local residents.

Dr. Dennis poses the question, could a TIF e.g. 1-2 years of property tax be used for "development of local services" ?

ASIDE: There was an interesting article that explains TIF's (among other things) in a recent Reader --
http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/theworks/060929/ Note that older archived content in the Reader costs money so copy/paste/save this to yourself while you can or it will likely cost $1.95 next week :-)

Q/Ans. A Charter school CAN have districted boundaries. In this case, applicants within the boundary are accepted first. Fergus will not answer what she thinks the boundaries might be, this has to be decided by the school district.

Fergus estimates $4 million annual budget w/ 600 students.

Question: What do we do? We need a school yesterday. Ans. It is a nebulous process.

Question: K-8 or K-12 ?

END

Elbe Jeffries 36th district since June '06, was Jones Adm. Assistant introduced herself.
Spoke about health care & affordable housing, education -> night school
everyone leaving



Anyway, sorry the notes are not very organized or fleshed out, I will continue to research this as I plan for this topic to be our lead article for the Fall newsletter. e.g. here's the Summer newsletter: http://blog.new-eastside.com/new-eastside-news/

Drop me a note if you want to make sure you receive and to volunteer to help me distribute the newsletter: editor@new-eastside.com

These minutes were prepared by Lynn Brahin, NEAR Secretary.

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