Chicago Board votes to bring ChiArts under district management, adds language to preserve conservatory model

The Chicago Board of Education on Nov. 4, 2025 voted to amend its board reports to renew the Chicago High School for the Arts contract and to establish the school as a district-managed fine and performing arts school, while inserting language intended to preserve the school’s conservatory model.

The amendment added the phrase that the district is "committed to preserving the conservatory to the greatest extent practicable," directed the district to explore alternative financing and partnerships, and said the board would "endeavor to revisit the conservatory funding by the January board meeting following the completion of public engagement efforts." The final motion passed by roll call, recorded as 20 ayes, 0 nays.

The vote followed more than an hour of public comment from students, parents, teaching artists and union representatives who urged the board to protect instruction, staff and programming. "The teachers not only teach, but inspire us," said Samantha Gonzalez, a junior musical theater major and student-body president at Chicago High School for the Arts. "Our curriculum and teaching artists need to stay." Rosemary Vega, a parent and longtime community advocate, told the board that prior rounds of closings had devastated Black and brown communities and implored members to "keep the conservatory."

Board members framed the amendment as an attempt to buy time for engagement and to identify funding. One board member moving the language said it was intended to allow the district to seek options that would preserve the key elements of the conservatory while the district conducts broader community outreach. During discussion members raised the need to resolve differences in pay and hiring practices for working artists who teach in the conservatory model and to clarify who would hold responsibility for funding and operations.

The assistant board secretary read the amended item into the record and took a roll-call vote after discussion. The board also approved a separate amendment earlier in the meeting to authorize renewal steps necessary for the contract termination timeline and the wind-down of any existing contract arrangement; those procedural items were adopted before the establishment-as-district-managed vote.

Next steps: the amended language directs the district to conduct public engagement, explore financing options, and report back by the January board meeting. The board recorded that the final language will be included in the agenda of action for follow-up proceedings.