New Charter School Would Be 'Atomic Bomb' on Neighborhood, Residents Say

Hours after Chicago Public Schools announced it was closing 61 school buildings, community members gathered to protest a charter school coming to Lincoln Square.

A 70-person crowd convened outside of the North Community Bank on Western Avenue for a Bowmanville Community Organization meeting, where locals would hear a proposal for a charter school at 2050 W. Balmoral Ave. Charter schools are independently operated public schools. They’re largely reliant on state funding, so parents don’t pay tuition, but a board and charter sponsor oversees each school. 

The new school would be less than a mile from .

Only 45 people in the crowd were let into the meeting to avoid conflicts with the fire code. Residents and activists came in response to an announcement from Ward 40 Ald. Patrick O’Connor that charter school management company Concept Schools had submitted a zoning change for a new school March 13.

Ordinarily, zoning changes are up to local alderman with approval based on community support. A representative from the alderman’s office said the zoning application wouldn’t be approved without the full backing of the community and a town hall meeting on the proposal.

But the school may be blocked before a town hall is even scheduled. 

“…I’m informed today by Mayor (Rahm) Emanuel and his administration they are not supportive of a zoning change of this site,” O’Connor said in a statement given to BCO President Claire Shingler earlier on Thursday. Shingler read the statement after Concept Schools representatives had left the meeting. “I am not sure whether we will enjoy the autonomy to make a decision in the process that we normally take.”

The mayor wasn't the only one who's come out against the school. The Chicago Board of Education rejected the new proposal, forcing Concept Schools to appeal to the State Charter School Commission. The commission overturned the board's decision, with a 5-2 vote on Tuesday.

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'Fighting this tooth and nail'

While the meeting was meant for Bowmanville neighborhood news, the charter school topic took up more than half of the conversation.

“I’ll be honest, we’re not happy and we’ll probably end up fighting this tooth and nail,” Bowmanville resident Sharon McGill said.

Concept Schools Vice President Salim Ucan tried to woo the crowd with statistics of 95-100 percent graduation and college acceptance rates. With stricter discipline policies and a 24-student average class size, he said the company’s schools were some of the top in the nation. He cited the community support of the Chicago Math and Science Academy, Concept Schools' only other charter in Chicago.

“Once people hear and learn about what a great asset the school is, they’ll want us to come in whether they have kids or not,” he said.

But residents weren’t convinced.

Sharing concerns about traffic congestion and the effect on local schools, Ucan was met with open hostility from residents, who first learned of the proposal on Wednesday. 

“This is like the atomic bomb coming,” said 17-year resident Irene, who did not want her last name to be published. “The tranquility will be gone from our neighborhood.” 

If zoning is approved, the 34,000 square foot facility would house approximately 750 students. Ucan said the project, in two phases, would total approximately $10 million. 

When asked how the construction would be funded, Ucan said a private investment organization would purchase the land and build the facility.

Entertainment Properties Trust now has a letter of intent to purchase the former industrial building, pending approval of the zoning change. The firm, which also owns AMC Theaters, would lease the facility to Concept Schools with a purchase option 4 to 5 years in the future. 

Ucan said the process for this school has been different than the 27 other Concept Schools across the Midwest. Typically, the company will go into a community to collect signatures of support of parents. 

With a 1,000-student waiting list, Concept wanted to create two more schools in the Chicago area. One was set for McKinley Park, with the other in the Belmont Cragin area. When the Belmont Cragin location fell through, the company turned its sights to Lincoln Square, Ucan said. A goal to open the school by September prompted the quick zoning application without previous community notification.