Students will spend their last day of school at 28 of the 48 Chicago elementary schools Wednesday that are expected to close for good this month. An additional school will close after the next academic year.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the elementary schools that will shutter after school let out today include:
John P. Altgeld; Louis Armstrong Math & Science; Benjamin Banneker; Mary McLeod Bethune; Arna Wendell Bontemps; John Calhoun North Elementary; Edward C. Delano Elementary; Robert Emmet; Nathan R. Goldblatt; Matthew A. Henson; Victor Herbert, Francis Scott Key; William H. King; Alfred David Kohn; Jean D. Lafayette; Horatio May Elementary Community Academy; Garrett A. Morgan; Anthony Overton; Ignance Paderewski; Francis Parkman; Nathaniel Pope; Martin A. Ryerson; Songhai Elementary Learning Institute; West Pullman; Williams Multiplex; Granville T. Woods Math & Science Academy; and Elihu Yale.
But there are at least three lawsuits pending that look to put a stop to the school closings.
Specifically, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and parents of neighborhood school students filed a lawsuit against the Chicago Board of Education late last month to halt 10 schools from closing that independent hearing officers had recommended the district not close.
Also last month, two seperate class action lawsuits were filed in federal court that allege the school closing plan discriminates against African-American students and negatively impacts students with special needs.
And more recently, parents at Lyman Trumbull Elementary School said they plan to file suit with help from the Legal Assistance Foundation to stop their school from closing. Parents allege the school closing plan discriminates against the students with special needs at Trumbull.