Parents and Protesters Occupy Elementary School To Fight Turnaround

By aaroncynic in News on Feb 20, 2012 4:30PM

Chicagoist/Aaroncynic

On Friday, a group of parents, students and activists staged an indoor sit in and built an accompanying outdoor camp outside Brian Piccolo Elementary School in Humboldt Park to protest the school's scheduled “turnaround.” The school is one of ten slated for what would be a staff shake up and takeover by the Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL). In a press release Friday, members of a groups called Take Back Our Schools and Blocks Together said the turnaround process “closes schools that are suffering from lack of resources, and then pays out large sums of money to AUSL and other 'turnaround' experts, who spend the money but generally fail to produce dramatic results.”

About 15 people stayed inside the school overnight on Friday, with supporters, community activists and members of Occupy Chicago staying outside in tents.

On Saturday afternoon, Education Vice President Jesse Ruiz met with the demonstrators inside Piccolo for about an hour. Piccolo parents argued that they had presented a counter proposal to the slated turnaround nearly a month prior, but Ruiz said he hadn't even heard of it until that day. On Saturday at 3:30, after the meeting, the group called an end to their sit in.

In a press conference at the steps of the school, parent Cecile Carroll told a crowd of over 100 cheering supporters “This engagement was satisfying, but it illustrated the community engagement process though, is flawed. It should not have to take drastic measures like an occupation for real engagement...parents and community members need to be communicating with decision makers before things like this happen.”

The school board is expected to vote on the turnaround measure Wednesday.