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Onahan parent asks board to advance long-delayed athletic field project, cites student injuries
Summary
Ed Howard, an LSC parent representative at Onahan Elementary, said an outdoor athletic field project that reached 100% design was promised for the 2023 budget cycle but wasn’t advanced; he warned of injuries to students on the unsafe field and asked the board to follow up with capital projects and aldermanic offices.
Ed Howard, a parent representative and longtime Local School Council member at Onahan Elementary, told the Chicago Board of Education that the school’s outdoor athletic and recreation field project has been stalled for roughly a decade even though it reached 100% design and had a 2022 letter saying it would be included in the 2023 budget cycle.
Howard said the capital project did not come before the board in 2022 as expected and that the current turf/field conditions have led to injuries affecting students. He said the project’s delays affect community safety and about 650 students who use the field and asked the board to ask more questions and follow up with the CEO’s office and the 41st Ward alderman; he said he has a signed letter from the CEO’s office to Alderman Anthony Napolitano documenting earlier commitments.
Why it matters: Capital projects and their timing affect student safety and recreation access; Howard framed the issue as a long-standing local capital planning failure and requested a board-level follow-up.
Next steps: Howard offered to provide documentation and asked the board to pursue answers from capital projects and district leadership.
