Jones Expansion Still Undecided

By Enrique Perez

On May 18, the Jones College Prep Local School Council (LSC) sponsored a community forum to present an update on the Jones expansion and to take comments. The following was the presentation made:

Chicago Public School (CPS) Plan: entirely new facility, $130m ($90m TIF, $40m CPS); capacity increase - selective enrollment from 750 to 900; option of 900 + 300 neighborhood students for total of 1,200 capacity; sale of existing building est. $20m; mayoral support; aldermanic interest in neighborhood component; parking for 75 spaces; completion date 2012/2013

Discussion Points:
* No official decision yet re: capacity of 900 or 1,200 (neighborhood inclusion)
* Project is moving forward, architectural design progressing: Penny Varnava
* Geographical boundaries for attendance area not known or set
* Values: preserving college prep curriculum/program; maintaining ethnic & economic diversity; continuation of "Targeted Recruitment & Support Program" (TRSP) social justice mechanism; concern for integrated & unified student body

LSC Action Plan:
* Priority of JCP maintaining integrity of academic program & social justice bent
* Necessary long-term assurance that JCP enrollment of local students capped at 300
* Admissions Formulae (in order of preference):
- All via selective enrollment process-weighted scoring for neighborhood (principal discretion included)
- Neighborhood students admitted but integrated into comprehensive program
- If demand exceeds 300 local students (total in HS), a lottery system implemented

Next Jones Expansion Update Meeting:
Monday, June 8 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.
at Jones College Prep, 606 S. State St., in the cafeteria.

CPS officials are scheduled to give an update on the Jones College Prep expansion at this LSC meeting. Attendees wishing to ask questions or make comments will need to sign in at the start of the meeting. The Jones LSC normally meets on the third Monday of the month. For June, however, the meeting will be on the 2nd Monday (June 8). Everyone is welcome to attend - parents, students, teachers, staff, and community residents.

As of now, no other meeting has been scheduled to discuss the Jones expansion. While it is reasonable to assume that an additional meeting will be held, especially in light of the fact that Tax Increment Financing (TIF) money will be used, the June 8 meeting will give the community a chance to hear directly from CPS and to ask questions or express concerns.

Keep in mind that the scope of this project has been expanded to include a whole new school facility instead of just a simple expansion, including a much taller structure and a footprint going down to Polk Street. While CPS generally decides what it is going to do regarding its schools (think school closings), the fact that TIF money will be used gives the community a real chance to weigh in, via the Alderman who generally approves TIF funding allocations, as to what it would like to see. Since no decision has yet been made if the expansion will include a neighborhood component, the community's input becomes all the more critical.

Update article from Chicago Journal, published after the June 8 meeting:

Chicago Journal: Decisions About Jones Are a Long Way Off