ChiArts funding vote postponed as CPS board debates budget consequences

The Chicago Board of Education has postponed a vote that would have provided extra funding for the school formerly known as the Chicago High School for the Arts — putting its vaunted professional arts training program in limbo a few weeks before the start of the school year.

The resolution was meant to be the culmination of months of advocacy by the ChiArts community after the leaders of the privately run but publicly funded school voted against renewing their contract with Chicago Public Schools because of financial deficits.

Amid fears the school would shutter, CPS stepped in and absorbed it as a fine and performing arts school recently renamed Chicago Arts High School. But parents, students and teachers argued that keeping the doors open wasn’t enough.

They wanted CPS to maintain its current flagship arts training program, as well as retain the teaching artists responsible for executing it — otherwise, they said layoffs and school schedule changes risked upending the fabric of the school that has produced a bevy of professional artists, including talents such as R&B singer Ravyn Lenae .

ChiArts music conservatory teaching artist Kyle Cortés spoke at a rally in May protesting the loss of many artists-in-residence at the school. Cortés was among the teaching artists told their contract would not be renewed.

Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times

Board of Education member Michilla Blaise of the West Side introduced a resolution this month calling on the district to provide one year of extra funding so the school can retain its current arts programming and staff in the upcoming school year — $5.5 million according to previous district estimates. That would give the school time to figure out a plan to raise the money on its own in subsequent years, Blaise said, adding that she wanted to support a “gem” in the district’s portfolio even though the school isn’t in her district — it is in board member Carlos Rivas’ area.

“The changes that have happened to the school have been extremely detrimental to the culture and the climate,” Blaise said at a board meeting this month, adding that the resolution “offers another opportunity for ChiArts to maintain its integrity.”

But after a heated debate over the school district’s $732 million budget deficit, some board members challenged the plan to give more money to one school when many others are also in need of resources. Questions also remained about how exactly the money would come from.

As a result, Blaise decided to table the resolution until late August, after the start of the school year. The board unanimously approved.

CPS officials had said there would be challenges maintaining ChiArts’ programming, including the requirement that art classes at district-run schools need to be taught by a certified teacher — and many of the professional teaching artists at the school don’t have that certification.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the district said CPS is committed to preserving the conservatory model but the resolution would force the district to review school budgets and could lead to cuts at other schools.

“Allocating an extra $5 million to a single school would give it nearly 100 times more support than its counterparts, creating severe systemic inequality,” the statement said. “CPS remains committed to supporting our students, families, and staff at Chicago Arts High School while upholding our fiduciary responsibility to treat all 73 fine arts schools across Chicago equitably.”

Grammy Award-winning school board member Che “Rhymefest” Smith said at a board meeting earlier this month that he wants “to see a conservatory for all children, not just some.”

“If we have money, millions of dollars to invest in arts, those millions of dollars should be spread equitably so that all children can experience the greatness of art,” he said.

Big changes expected

The school day at ChiArts ran from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Five hours were dedicated to academics, and the conservatory portion ran uninterrupted for three hours in the afternoon. Similar to a charter school, the academic day was funded by public dollars and the three-hour conservatory arts training was supported by donors through a foundation.

Students who have spoken at board meetings over the past few months said they wanted the school to remain as is, crediting the conservatory program for helping them grow as artists and people.

“I don't want my senior year experience to be reduced to a singular generalized art class due to the reduction of our staff,” rising senior Shaelan Wallace said. “I want the students who come after me to be able to experience the same rich exposure to the arts that I have had.”

But the district says it has to make changes, such as shortening the school day, due to labor agreements and other factors including its own financial woes.

Incoming Principal Casey Fuess revealed earlier this year that the school day is being shortened by 50 minutes and will run from 8:10 a.m. to 4:20 p.m. School leaders said the old nine-hour school day was the longest of any major public arts high school in the country, and the new length is still longer than the majority of comparable schools.

That means students will have 150 minutes of arts instruction instead of 180 in the old conservatory model, but school leaders say after-school programming will help make up for that lost time.

Arts instruction will no longer be reserved for the end of the day — those minutes will be mixed into a student’s regular school day schedule. Some students raised concerns that breaking up the conservatory's consecutive hours of arts instruction could be harmful for some disciplines — such as writing and music — where students need extra time to be creative and practice.

They say some students may be distracted while practicing their art because they’re worried about a math exam the next period.

But school leaders say students will be able to clump their arts periods together for uninterrupte...

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