Parents, students and teachers press Chicago Board to fully fund Chi Arts conservatory during transition
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Summary
Students, teachers and parents from the Chicago High School for the Arts (Chi Arts/Shy Arts) urged the Board of Education to commit sustained funding, keep the 8 a.m.–5 p.m. conservatory schedule and retain faculty as CPS transitions the program into district management; the CEO said the district is pausing to finalize a fiscally sustainable model and will complete resource alignment in 30 days.
Chicago — Dozens of students, parents, teachers and alumni told the Chicago Board of Education on Jan. 29 that the district must guarantee stable funding and staff retention for the Chicago High School for the Arts as it moves through a planned transition.
“560 is the number of scholar artists currently in Chi Arts,” teacher and parent Lisa Miranda told the board, emphasizing the school’s steady applicant pool and warning that continuing uncertainty threatens students’ decisions and the school’s talent pipeline. Several presenters pressed the board to commit, in writing, to preserve the school’s 8 a.m.–5 p.m. daily schedule and the 15 hours of pre‑professional instruction that define the conservatory model.
Why it matters: Chi Arts is a citywide conservatory that serves scholar‑artists from across Chicago; parents and staff argued that a one‑year funding bridge or reliance on philanthropy would leave the program at risk. Teachers and students said the conservatory model offers concentrated arts instruction that feeds college and career pathways and that losing instructors or program hours would dismantle that model.
Members of the school community described concrete harms and requests. Visual arts instructor Casey Weldon asked the board to “commit to fully funding our entire 8 to 5 school day and retaining our current faculty and staff,” and senior students and alumni recounted how the conservatory prepared them for college and jobs. Faculty and family speakers said a written staffing guarantee and a stable funding stream would allow teachers to remain and students to plan for the fall.
CPS response: Interim Superintendent and CEO Dr. King said the district remains committed to honoring the arts legacy but that a decision would not be rushed. “Proceeding with a business‑as‑usual model today would be premature,” Dr. King told the board, saying officials had identified a financial gap and would take 30 days to finalize internal resource alignment and explore a sustainable shared‑resource model rather than a one‑year bridge. He added the district is working with an advisory and design leadership council and that principal selection and community engagement would continue.
Next steps: The district will post transition updates to its website and said it would seek broader engagement with parents, students and partners as it finalizes funding and staffing plans over the next 30 days. The community asked the board for a timely, written commitment to preserve both the full day schedule and the teaching artists the program relies on.
Ending: Speakers urged the board to move from words to written commitments. The board did not adopt a funding resolution at the Jan. 29 meeting; management said it would return with a recommended plan after the internal review period.