Chicago Board votes to keep five Acero campuses open, directs staff to negotiate memorandum of understanding

The Chicago Board of Education on Feb. 27 voted to adopt an amended resolution directing district staff to plan for the transition of five Acero-run campuses into district operations for the 2026–27 school year and to negotiate a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Acero that would address funding gaps and capital needs.

The board’s vote to adopt the amended resolution — which names Cisneros, Casas, Fuentes, Tamayo and Santiago as the campuses to be kept open for planning — passed with 16 ayes, 3 nays and 1 abstention. The meeting followed extensive public comment from parents, students and teachers, repeated calls from union leaders and a detailed presentation from district portfolio and finance staff outlining the legal and financial limits on any deal.

Why it matters: Hundreds of families, educators and neighborhood leaders said schools slated for closure would leave students without stable schools and uproot communities. District staff told the board they lack legal authority to force a charter operator to stay open and that any agreement to keep campuses running will require district funds within a narrow statutory funding band for charter reimbursement. The board’s action sets staff to finalize terms with Acero while flagging potential capital liabilities the district would assume if it moves forward.

Board and staff presentation

Chief Portfolio Officer Alfonso Carmona told the board that the December 20 resolution directed staff to begin negotiating an MOU with Acero and to draft a transition plan for certain campuses for 2026–27. Carmona said those tasks are linked: the district cannot complete a transition plan until Acero and the district agree to terms, notably who covers projected deficits and capital work.

Chief Budget Officer Mike Zikowski laid out finance scenarios the district and Acero discussed. He said state law limits district funding of charter schools to between 97% and 103% of the district’s per-capita tuition calculation (the projected PCTC next year is approximately $18,127.91; 103% of that figure is about $19,383.25). Zikowski summarized the four options the district modeled: - Keep all seven campuses open: projected surplus after charter payments would be roughly $2.3 million, but estimated immediate capital needs (notably at Cisneros) would create at least a $1.8 million deficit; this would likely require funding beyond the 103% cap and therefore violate state law. - Keep six campuses open: projected surplus about $3.2 million but a similar Cisneros capital gap would create about a $900,000 shortfall and risk breaching the statutory cap. - Keep five campuses open (Cisneros, Casas, Fuentes, Tamayo, Santiago): projected surplus about $3.9 million and a remaining projected capital shortfall of roughly $200,000 — still a legal risk if additional expenses or enrollment declines occur. - Keep four campuses open (Casas, Fuentes, Santiago, Tamayo): projected surplus about $3.3 million; by excluding Cisneros (the campus with the largest near-term capital needs), the district’s modeling suggested it could remain within the 103% cap while maintaining a buffer for modest unforeseen costs.

Carmona and Zikowski emphasized that the numbers are projections and that the district had already documented enrollment declines of roughly 180 students across the seven campuses since October. Carmona also said Acero sought assurances the district would cover deficits arising from capital costs or further enrollment losses.

Capital and safety concerns

Chief Operating Officer Charles Mayfield and facility staff said Cisneros has immediate mechanical, electrical and plumbing concerns, including two boilers with expired useful life. The district’s facility assessment placed near-term Cisneros repairs at roughly $4.1 million (the district characterized this as the conservative “0–2 year” immediate needs estimate); the board heard that a boiler or HVAC failure during extreme weather would require emergency fixes or relocation of students while repairs are made.

Public testimony and union statements

More than three hours of public comment centered on families and staff from Acero campuses and partner charter and neighborhood schools. Parents and students described schools as “safe havens” and urged the board to keep campuses open. Representative speakers included: - Angelica Juarez, parent (Fuentes), who said the school had served her family for more than a decade and pleaded that the board finalize the Dec. 20 resolution to preserve community schools. - A seventh-grade student from Cisneros who said she feared losing teachers and peers and asked the board to “save our schools.” - Multiple teachers and staff (including Olivia Goldstein and Emily Rylander) who described high attendance and programmatic stability at campuses such as Santiago and warned that a prolonged planning process increased trauma and staff departures.

Union leaders and charter-sector representatives were also in the room. CTU President Stacy Davis Gates and CTU charter-division chair Jen Conant urged the board to hold charter operators accountable and to ensure transitions protect staff. SEIU Local 73’s Stacia Scott Kennedy urged the district to protect support staff jobs.

Elected officials, including Ald. Silvana Tabares and Ald. Byron Sigtry Lopez, urged the board to back the December 20 directive and to use available resources to protect neighborhood schools and capacity for career and technical education programs.

Board debate and votes

Board members spoke at length about competing duties: to protect students and communities; to follow state law limiting funding levels for charter operators; and to avoid creating fiscal liabilities that would require cuts elsewhere in the district.

After debate the board considered an amendment and then a final resolution that (1) directs staff to create a detailed plan to transition five Acero campuses into district operation for the 2026–27 school year, (2) requires the district to negotiate and, if acceptable, finalize an MOU with Acero to address operating deficits and capital liabilities for 2025–26, and (3) asks staff to provide regular updates to the board and to maximize retention of teachers and students during any transition. The final adoption vote was 16 ayes, 3 nays, 1 abstention.

What the resolution does — and does not — do

The vote does not legally force Acero to keep any campus open; the district repeatedly told the board that it lacks legal grounds to compel a charter operator to do so. Instead, the resolution directs CPS staff to (a) negotiate an MOU that would cover deficits and capital repairs required for campuses to operate in 2025–26 and (b) draft transition plans for 2026–27 if an agreement is reached. Carmona told the board that Acero representatives said they would continue campuses only if the district accepted responsibility for deficits and any unplanned capital costs.

Next steps

The board’s action instructs the CEO and portfolio staff to finalize negotiations with Acero on the MOU; staff said they will return regular, timely updates to the board and will communicate options to families as soon as an agreement is signed. District staff also said they would begin transition planning activities for the named campuses once the MOU terms are finalized.

Quotes

“We do not have legal grounds to force Acero to keep any campus open. For this to work, Acero has to agree to the terms of an MOU,” Chief Portfolio Officer Alfonso Carmona said during the presentation.

“Students are showing up. Isn’t that the very definition of viability?” said Esmeralda Santiago teacher Olivia Goldstein, a vocal critic of stretching the timeline.

“We’ve been fighting for answers for 140 days. We need CPS to absorb these schools,” said Christine Binder, an Acero educator, referencing the December 20 resolution.

Ending

District staff and Acero negotiators will return to the board with a draft MOU and with regular updates to families and school communities. The board’s vote keeps open the possibility of preserving five campus sites for 2026–27 but leaves open significant financial and legal questions that staff said will frame any final agreement.