Parents React To Closing Of Bronzeville School
CHICAGO (CBS) -- At one of the schools ordered closed by CPS – there was quiet opposition from some parents today, and some seemed resigned to what is about to happen. CBS2's Mike Parker reports.
The kids leaving classes at Overton Elementary School in the Bronzeville neighborhood hadn't heard the news. But their parents had. Overton will be closed, the 400 students enrolled there will be transferred in the fall to Mollison Elementary, still in Bronzeville but seven tenths of a mile away.
"That's mixing children in different populations," said parent Brandy Dyer. " I think the children should stay in the home schools where they've been for a while. My children have been here for over four years."
Some parents, like Ernest Wesley are philosophical. "Not happy with it," he said, "but if you look at it from the business side, it kind of makes sense because you've got two different schools that are being under utilized."
The down side for Mollison, a so called 'welcoming school,' the student population will increase there from 200 to 600. There are worries about class size.
"I'm quite concerned about that," said Mollison parent John Harris. "It's almost, you know, "your hands are tied."
The upside for Mollison and other "welcoming schools," CPS is promising air conditioning in every class room, iPads for all students in grades 3-8 and customized "safe passage" plans for students.
