| Chicago
has overcrowded schools that are bursting at the seams.
However, many of Chicago’s schools are losing
enrollments, particularly those schools in neighborhoods
that are losing populations, such as those undergoing
CHA public housing demolition, or even those neighborhoods
that are gentrifying and kids are not filling the neighborhood
schools. Underutilized schools (schools that have excess
space often due to declining student enrollment) can
provide positive learning environments when viewed as
“small schools.” Since class sizes are ideally
smaller, and underutilized schools often have extra
space to accommodate community centered activities,
these unintended smaller schools can actually provide
enhanced learning environments and be used more creatively
to serve the broader neighborhood.
Underutilized Elementary Schools
During the 2001-2002 school year, 176 (36%) of our
elementary schools were underutilized. CPS considers
a school underutilized when the school percent capacity
falls below 65%. This is not a crisis of and in itself,
especially since we have heard that small schools
and small class sizes are good for students and learning,
particularly in low-income and communities of color;
however, we must think about the consequences declining
enrollment may have if it becomes too low: less school
funding, less funding for teachers and aides (there
is a student/teacher formula that dictates # of teachers),
fewer program options, greater creativity needed on
behalf of school administrators to entice outside
neighborhood attendance in order to keep their schools
afloat, and also the danger of school closure. See
a list of underutilized elementary schools.
The highest concentrations of underutilized schools
fall on the West side (57 schools) and South side
(39 schools) regions of Chicago, the same geographic
areas for underutilized high schools. The most prominent
Chicago communities feeling this student decline are
in North Lawndale (13 schools), Near West Side (12),
Englewood (8), Grand Boulevard (8), Douglas (8), and
West Town (8).
10 Lowest
Underutilized Elementary Schools
| School |
% Underutilized |
Geographic Region |
| Farren |
19% |
South |
| Attucks |
22% |
South |
| Colman |
24% |
South |
| Abbott |
24% |
Southwest |
| Parkman |
26% |
Southwest |
| Brown |
26% |
West |
| Suder |
29% |
West |
| Dyett Middle |
29% |
South |
| Le Moyne |
32% |
North |
| Pope |
33% |
West |
Underutilized High Schools
During the 2001-2002 school year, 36 (39%) of our
high schools were underutilized. CPS considers a school
underutilized when the school percent capacity falls
below 65%. This is not a crisis of and in itself,
especially since we have heard that small schools
and small class sizes are good for students and learning,
particularly in low-income and communities of color;
however, we must think about the consequences declining
enrollment may have if it becomes too low: less school
funding, less funding for teachers and aides (there
is a student/teacher formula that dictates # of teachers),
fewer program options, greater creativity needed on
behalf of school administrators to entice outside
neighborhood attendance in order to keep their schools
afloat, and also the danger of school closure. See
a list of underutilized high schools.
The highest concentrations of underutilized schools
fall on the West side (11 schools) and South side
(7 schools) regions of Chicago, the same geographic
areas for elementary schools. The 10 major underutilized
high schools are charted below.
10 Lowest
Underutilized High Schools
| School |
% Underutilized |
Geographic Region |
| DuSable HS |
30% |
South |
| Lindblom HS |
31% |
Southwest |
| Flower HS |
33% |
West |
| Phillips HS |
33% |
South |
| Carver HS |
41% |
Far South |
| Manley Academy |
44% |
West |
| Bowen HS |
46% |
South |
| Hirsch HS |
48% |
South |
| Corliss HS |
51% |
Far South |
| Collins HS |
52% |
West |
Many explanations address school de-population. NCBG
believes that declining enrollment is often directly
related to neighborhoods that are experiencing economic
and development changes. When we see a depopulation
of communities, declining school enrollments trends
seem to occur alongside. For instance, the Near West
Side has 12 underutilized elementary schools. This
community is experiencing the CHA public housing “Transformation”
Plan in which demolition and family displacement is
taking place, while being viewed as an "up-and-coming"
neighborhood experiencing gentrification.
Again, NCBG believes that "changing" neighborhoods
are often planned, and that CPS could better plan
for and respond more effectively to these families
and schools affected. In the case of underutilized
schools, CPS should think about the need to keep student
mobility low and learning and stability high, and
the need to recognize these underutilized schools
as "small schools" of value, where resources
are adequate and plentiful for learning and teaching
in smaller schools, teachers are qualified and plentiful
for each grade level, and students have a right to
walkable, neighborhood schools that don’t face
school closure simply for being “small.”
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