In recent
weeks there has been legitimate concern in the community about a new school
that has moved into St. Clotilde on the 8400 Block of South Calumet. I have reached out to the church,
school and community leaders to do an investigation into this project.
For those
who are unfamiliar, it is the Richard Milbourn School, an “Alternative Safe”
educational facility that accepts students from the 6-12th grades. An Alternative Safe school is a school
for students who have been expelled from their primary school, but have not yet
exhausted their options for returning to their home school. This facility keeps these students
anywhere between 45 days and 2 years. The school had approximately 35 students when I met with the
administrator on September 12, and can potentially house as many as 115
students. The middle school aged
students are bused to and from the school and the high school age students must
take public transportation to get to the school. Security officials are posted at the bus stops in the
morning and afternoon, escorting students to and from school. The Administrator understands the
concerns of the neighborhood, and the school administration seems well-meaning
in their attempts to mitigate issues in the community.
My
concern, however, is in the process that was used to bring the school into the
area.
This
school was placed in this building by the administration of St. Clotilde and
the Chicago Public Schools without any consultation with the neighbors or with
my office.
This is
disrespectful to the community and shows a complete lack of regard for the
legitimate concerns of a neighborhood to opening this school in a residential
neighborhood. This is not an
attempt to demonize children who have made a mistake; however, there are
legitimate questions about filling what was traditionally an elementary school
with high school aged students. There are legitimate concerns about having teenagers take public
transportation to a school that is multiple blocks from most sources of public
transportation. I hope that this
is not indicative of the level of cooperation we can expect from the Emanuel
and Brizard administrations. I
want to be partners in improving both our schools and our children, but that
requires collaboration with teachers, parents, government and the
community. I am asking my Chatham
neighbors to keep an eye out on this school and let us know if they are being
good neighbors. The city had a
poor process for placing the school in our neighborhood, but we will not allow
the school to remain in our neighborhood if it actually results in problems in
our community, and for that, you are my eyes and ears.
Ald.
Roderick T. Sawyer (6th)
