Local School Councils and PACs- about/doings, mtg. schedule, elections, schools table and LSC memberships

A service of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference Schools Committee and the HPKCC website, www.hydepark.org.
Help support our work-Join the Conference.
Join the Schools Committee-chair Nancy Baum. email hpkcc@aol.com, nbbaum@sbcglobal.net.

Return links: home. Schools/schools committee home. School Hot Topics.
To Page with Dates of LSC candidate forums, SIPAAA plan open discussions

Local School Councils: celebrating 20 years in December 2009; nominations are already open thru March 11 for April 2010 elections- there's a contest for schools that have more nominees than places.
Running for LSC, hotline and getting started: 773 553-1400, www.cps.edu.
Further description. DEADLINE EXTENDED AND PROBLEMS THIS YEAR and HPKCC letter.

Meetings and opportunities

VISIT FEBRUARY 23 2010 CEREMONY AND FORUM page. Review in pdf.

Make a Difference in our Schools.
Run for your Local School Council.

Schools still short on either parent or community rep filings:
Canter, Kozminski, Reavis, Shoesmith, Price, Dyett, Ray, (Murray community?)

Watch for school lsc candidate forums last week of March

Bret Harte March 24, 6 pm.

Parents and community members who want to strengthen their local schools are encouraged to run.
Candidate forms are available at your school, CPS Area Offices, Chicago Public Libraries, or via the web: www.cps.edu.

Return completed forms by:

3 p.m. on March 11, 2010 (at schools)
3 p.m. on March 4, 2010 (at the Office of Local School Council Relations."

"Make a Difference Run for Your LSC Local School Council Elections 2010."

For more information, visit your local school or call 773-553-1400.

Also, schools are developing their 2-year improvement plans, called SIPAAA. Your school may need help, including with priorities surveys. Such is the case with Kenwood. Contact Megan Hougard 773 535-1417 or mjhougard@cps.edu or Ted Fetters 773 667-0550 or efetters@gmail.com. Updates in http://www.kenwoodacademy.org.
The Five Fundamentals of School Success model is used to focus school planning on what matters most. This model was built on research developed and refined by CPS practitioners and stakeholders and used to guide the CIPAAA process: Instruction, Instructional Leadership, Professional Capacity, Learning Climate, and Family and Community Involvement.
 Visit also Link to Kenwood School Improvement Plan survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/33SSMNN.
View/print pdf of flyer about Kenwood Academy and Kenwood SIPPAA.

See how CPS has adapted findings from the UC Consortium and more for school improvement plan planning: Defining Excellence- 5 fundamental supports.

HPKCC and the LSCs, other opportunities

“The mission of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference Schools Committee is to provide community support for the schools and to provide a place where Local School Council members can get together to share information.”

Our Schools Committee meets April 5, Monday, pm, United Church of Hyde Park, 1448 E. 53rd St.

Our mission and reports are in the Schools Committee homepage.

A major effort of the LSCs is to exchange information and promote networking among LSCs, helping to get partnership programs and train in grant seeping. We will need LSC help in distributing our Youth Programs Database. Contact Nancy Baum at 773 288-5464 or nbbaum@sbcglobal.net.

PURE's Schedule for Basic LSC Training. Training is free to individual LSC members. LSC members may access LSC training funds if available. Pure trainers are certified by CPS to provide LSC training and award LSC training credit. The training will be held at PURE, located at 100 S. Morgan St. For more information or to pre-register (required), please call 312-491-9101 or visit http://pureparents.org/data/files/LSClatefall08.pdf

Updates and trends

The deadline for running for lscs has been extended to March 24 and CPS will hold a special explanatory meeting on the 16th.

(See below why there are special reasons this year to extend it.)

To the Editor, Hyde Park Herald, by Nancy Baum, March 13, 2010

The members of the Schools Committee of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference wish to bring the community's attention to a very important Chicago Public School deadline extension: Carole Wood, the new Acting Director of the Office of Local School Council Relations announces that CPS was extending the sign-up deadline for candidates of the LSCs through Wednesday, March 24. In addition, Ms. Wood will organize a meeting for anyone currently involved in or interested in becoming involved in recruiting on next Tuesday, March 16, at 2 p.m. at the Parent Resource Center, 527 East 35th Street.

The LSCs provide a vehicle for parent and community involvement in school policy-making. LSCs approve the School Improvement Plan, approve the school’s budget, evaluate the principal and hire a principal, if necessary.

Community members should all try to help out by presenting their candidacy for Local School Councils. Forms for running for the LSC are available at your local schools or on line.

Citizens should try to find out about the candidates by attending LSC candidate forums during in the last week of March--for example Bret Harte's is March 24th at 6 pm.
All of our schools have web sites that can be accessed by googling the name of that school. These web sites provide useful and interesting facts about the schools.

Further, you can help by participating in voting for eligible and responsible candidates for these positions.

Local School Council elections will be held on April 21, 2010 (Elementary) and April 22 (High School).

The legislature made it easier to exclude LSCs in the schools they are "turning around." Visit for one view http://pureparents.org/index.php?blog/show/Legislators_betray_LSCs.

If your LSC is having trouble getting the information and documents's it needs, note that the state has liberalized the rules on Freedom of Information:

Help is on the way from the Illinois Attorney General and a new FOIA law. The new law, among other things:

•Creates a presumption that all records are public; if a public body claims an exemption, it has the burden of proving that the record is exempt by clear and convincing evidence.
•Shortens the initial time to respond to a FOIA request from 7 to 5 business days and the time allowed in an extension from 7 to 5 business days.
•Establishes the Public Access Counselor (PAC) as a permanent position with subpoena power and the authority to review FOIA and OMA complaints, issue advisory opinions to provide guidance or binding opinions to resolve disputes, and sue to enforce the binding opinions.
•Allows the PAC to assess civil fines of between $2,500 and $5,000 from a public body that intentionally violates FOIA.

Designs for Change and others say there have been special impediments to sign up to run this year, some of them connected to the high number of schools on probation (where both principal and LSC are not allowed to prepare the improvement plan) and lack of widespread knowledge that the anti LSC Meeks Bill is in effect dead in committee.

Twenty-two Local School Council, community, school reform, and educator groups (Attachment A) today vigorously urged that the Chicago Public School System's Chief Executive Officer, Ron Huberman, grant a two-week extension of the deadline for candidates to register to run for their Chicago Local School Councils. All groups involved in requesting the extension are engaged in the effort to recruit LSC candidates.

These twenty-two groups and numerous individual supporters want the candidate registration deadline extended from March 11 to March 25. On March 10, there were 3,340 LSC candidates registered, while about 7,000 candidates have run in the past six LSC elections (contradicting the assertion that candidacy has been in steep decline in recent years) (see Attachment B).

The Chicago Board has extended this candidate recruitment deadline in previous LSC elections, and the Chief Executive Officer has made this decision.

Despite stereotypes of LSC members held by some, a comprehensive research study of Chicago's LSCs by the Consortium on Chicago Research at the University of Chicago concludes that: ""The vast majority of Local School Council members quietly oversee school policy and carry out their official duties of the evaluation of the principal, approving the budget, and approving and monitoring the School Improvement Plan. ...They also help the school with a myriad of small and large tasks," which include increasing parent involvement and developing collaborations with organizations in the community. "These individuals deserve our praise and our thanks...By devolving significant resources and authority to local school communities and by expanding opportunities for local participation by parents, community members, and staff, this reform has enlarged the capabilities of school communities to solve local problems."
These research findings are supported by:
• Senator Arthur Berman, former Chair of the Senate Education Committee and a key sponsor of the Chicago School Reform Act of 1988.

• Clarice Berry, President of the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association, who strongly endorses the request for the two-week extension and praises the collaboration within an effective school community to which LSCs contribute (see Attachment C).

The coalition argued that the time extension is needed because (1) the Chicago school system's administration and Central Board have undermined the recruitment process in several crucial ways and (2) other critical events have had a negative impact on candidate recruitment.

How CPS Has Undermined Candidate Recruitment
A major impediment to candidate recruitment results from the fact that up to 399 schools have been placed on probation by the Central Board, a dramatic increase from the 71 schools that were placed on probation for the 2000-2001 school year (see Attachment D). Probation strips the Local School Council and the principal of their legal right to develop a School Improvement Plan and school budget and empowers the Central Board to impose these plans on the school.

This extent of probation in Chicago violates the original intention and definition of probation in state law, which focused probation on schools that were not making a serious effort to improve. By using a percentage of 50% on the School Performance Score as the probation cutoff, the Chicago Board has set a standard that, when its specifics are examined, wrongly places on probation a large number of neighborhood schools with good achievement that must address the fact that they have several of the following characteristics that lead to an inequitable School Performance Score: a high level of poverty, a high percentage of students with disabilities, an uncertain enrollment since they must accept whoever walks in their door and lives within the school's attendance boundaries, outmoded and substandard physical facilities, and a moderate level of student mobility (see Attachment E for elaboration about this issue).
Between 1999 and 2009, the Chicago Board changed its probation policy eight times. Further, over this period, Attachment F illustrates that the Chicago Board 's decision to change its probation policy has had an erratic relationship to the achievement progress of elementary schools. For example, Attachment F, which focuses on the relationship between elementary school probation and student achievement indicates that the Board tripled the number of schools on probation between the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 school years from 47 to 158, even though achievement increased slightly between these two years. Further, the number of schools on probation dropped from 181 in 2005-06 to 46 in 2006-07, primarily because the Illinois State Board of Education made the Illinois Standards Achievement Test easier. Thus, schools registered big gains in achievement, and the number of schools on probation plummeted. Subsequently, the number of elementary schools on probation more than tripled from 2006-07 to 2007-08 (from 46 to 171), even though school achievement actually improved slightly over these two school years. In each succeeding year (2007-2008, 2008-2009, and 2009-2010), the number of elementary schools on probation has steadily increased (as reflected in Attachment F), even though achievement has increased modestly but steadily over these three years.
"Clearly, the number of schools placed on probation has little to do with improving school achievement, and reflects the desire of the Chicago Board to reinstate centralized authority over schools, moving us back to the time when Chicago was considered the worst big city school system in the nation," said Dr. Donald Moore of Designs for Change. "Further supporting this view is the fact that research about schools placed on probation in Chicago has repeatedly shown that probation has no long-term impact on student achievement.
Although LSCs retain substantial powers and responsibilities, even if their school is on probation, many LSCs have been told that if their school is on probation that they are blocked from playing any further significant role. At Mann Elementary School, for example, the principal told the LSC that they didn't need to meet anymore.
These negative experiences with the probation process are common knowledge among many potential LSC candidates, and many decline to apply for LSC membership-saying "What's the point in serving on an LSC that is given virtually no authority?" As Attachment F indicates, the number of elementary schools on probation has increased nearly five-fold from 2003-3004 to 2009-2010. As Attachment G indicates, nearly every non-selective neighborhood high school is now on probation.
Further, the coalition has concluded (as indicated above) that the "point system" for placing schools on probation that the Central Board currently employs works to the detriment of schools that are not selective and/or educate a large percentage of low-income students and students with disabilities (see Attachment D).
For example, among the schools placed on probation for the 2009-2010 school year is Kellman Corporate Community School (a 100% African American and 92% low-income school in North Lawndale). 77% of Kellman's students met or exceeded state (ISAT) testing standards Overall in spring 2009-far higher than the city-wide average. And Kellman made Adequate Yearly Progress under federal standards. Yet Kellman was then placed on probation by Chicago, based on their School Performance Score of 38%, for reasons analyzed in Attachment D.
A second major area in which the school system bureaucracy has obstructed the LSC Candidate recruitment process is by its failure to adequately facilitate the efforts of independent groups to recruit candidates. For example:

• This is the first of the 12 LSC elections to date in which the Chicago Board has made no effort to bring together all groups working on recruitment to coordinate their efforts and share ideas about effective strategies. Few groups working on candidate recruitment can even name a significant number of other groups working on recruitment (unless they have developed this knowledge through collaboration separate from the Chicago Board.

• This is the first election in which the Chicago Board has failed to produce daily school-by-school breakdowns of the number of candidates registered at each school by role (Parent, Community, Teacher, Student) every day during the last month of the recruitment period. CPS has produced such lists only eight times in spring 2010, with all documents supplied after repeated requests by school reform groups several weeks before the first reports was provided on February 24. And the lists that were provided were inferior to the lists that had been provided in all prior elections since 1989, since they failed to list schools that had no candidates registered. Such timely complete lists are vital, so that groups involved in recruiting candidates know which schools to concentrate on.



Other Events Negatively Impacting Candidate Recruitment
Beyond actions by the Chicago school system, two other main issues have undermined recruiting.
First, Senator James Meeks, Chair of the Senate Education Committee, introduced a bill to eliminate all LSC authority on February 8, 2010-which received a great deal of press attention, with the CPS spokesperson calling Senator Meeks "a champion of school reform" after he introduced Senate Bill 3063 (SB 3063).
Senator Meeks bill is now trapped in a subcommittee, and he has publicly promised the bill's opponents (including a fellow evangelist who is an LSC member) that he will not seek to advance the bill. However, the lack of progress of SB 3063 has received no press publicity, so the response of a number of potential LSC candidates has been: "What's the use of running for an LSC? They are going to get rid of LSCs."
Second, there has been an overall decline in candidate participation and voter participation at virtually every level of government. For example:

• In 37 Democratic State House of Representatives races in Chicago that took place in February 2010, the voter turnout was only 19%. Further, in these races, only 30% of these elections were contested and 70% were uncontested (i.e., the number of candidates equaled the number of positions open).

• Of the 168 suburban school board races that were held in Suburban Cook County in April 2009, 47% were contested and 53% were uncontested Among the uncontested elections, 7 did not have a sufficient number of candidates to fill all positions. Overall voter turnout was 20%.

"Local School Councils are held to a double standard," said Matthew Johnson, a member of the Dewey Local School Council. "Low turnouts of candidates and voters in state legislature races and suburban school board races don't lead for calls to abolish these offices. However, if there are recruitment problems in LSC races, opponents of LSCs are immediately calling for abolishing LSCs."
"If the Chicago Public Schools spent a quarter of the time that they devote to undermining LSCs to assisting them, we could have one of best urban school systems in the nation," Johnson said. "We urge Mr. Huberman to extend the candidate registration deadline.

For more information, and to view supporting charts and documents, go to our Web site.

 

LSCs as known fall 2009. * = chair (as known). Updated as changes are known-late August 2009. No updates for Carnegie, Hyde Park, Kozminski, Murray, Price, Robinson.

Canter Middle
Principal: Colleen Conlan
Parent: Kelly Gill* chair, Bernie Riley sec.
Community: John Keller
Teacher: Janak Parajape
Others (undifferentiated- 4 parent vacancies): Carmen Guy

Carnegie
Principal: Ms. Healy

Walter H. Dyett
Principal: Robert H. McMiller
Parent: Theresa Humphries, Marye Young
Community: Jitu Brown, Bernita Gabriel Johnson
Student: Desiree Taylor
Teacher: Lashawn Yancey

Bret Harte (updated Dec. 2009)
Principal: Shenethe Parks
Parent: Jennifer Alexander (*Pres), Rose Bahl, Anniese Lemond, Constance Pierce, Jannell Washington, Darryl Williams
Community: Zanette Sanders, William Sweetland
Teacher: Diane Coney, Debbie Hampton

PAC chair Lori Allen; PTA chair Lorenzo Johnson

Hyde Park Career Academy
Principal: Thomas Trotter
Parent: Portia Armstrong, Tonesia Banner, Sheri Joseph, Valerie Marshall, Tina McKinney, Julius Polk
Community: Mildred Andrews, Darlette Willis
Teacher: Andrew Askuvich, Althea Butler

Kenwood Academy
Principal: Elizabeth Kirby
Parent: Rowena Haymer; Stephanie Lawson; Stevie Powell; Jonathan Speller, Ismail Turay* Chair; Yvenette Welch VChr;
Community: Ted Fetters; Rebecca Janowitz Treas.
Student: Erica Nwachukwu
Teacher: Karen Calloway-2nd VP; Denise E. Knox

PAC delegate Sheila Wesonga; PAC Exec Board CoChair Nicole Jennings,
Parent; CoChair Kimberly King, Parent; Vice Chair Latanya Norwood, Parent; Treasurer Donna Williams Murray, Community

King Prep (categories not clear)
Principal: Jeffrey Wright Parent
Parent: Henry English, Kendall Glover, Karen Graham
Teacher/Admin.? LeeAndra Khan, Kevin Tate, Thomas Frayne
Alumni Assoc.: Lorie Robinson
Other categories: Shannon Carrol, Charvella Christmas, Tiffany Gore, Al Kindle (community) Ellandrea McKissack, Angelique Muhammad, Robin Price

Kozminski
Principal: Lionel Bordelon
Parent: Chantelle Allen, Charles Brown, Cynthia Brown*, Adreenne Henley, Madonna Myers, Audra Rudys
Community: Sabine Charles Trinette Terry
Teacher Michael Henley, Beverly Jones

Murray
Principal: Gregory Mason
Parent: John Dozier, Rhonda Hawkins-Lyke* (Chair), Byron Mason, Cynthia Smith, Devin Williams, Maurice Young
Community: Annika Frazier-Muhammad, Julie Woestehoff (may have resigned)
Teacher: Curtis Bynum, Kathleen Finke

Ray
Principal: Bernadette Butler
Parent: Blake Davis, Heather Edelman, Raymond Lodato*, Willie L. Walter
Community: Kenneth Schug, Angela Walker
Teacher: Mary Cobb, Jean Clement

Price
Principal: Dr. Kimberly Moore

Reavis
Principal: Michael Johnson
Parent: Charlene Campbell, Clinnette? Bada. Demetrius Davis
Community: Charles Levesque, Louis Wright
Teacher: Anita Tutson
Chair unclear, was Demetrius Davis

Robinson

Shoesmith
Principal: Patricia Watson
Parent: Sherri Donald*(cochair), Stacey Henderson, Angelique Hogan, Theodore Moran*(cochair), Patricia Lofton
Community: Gregory Kelley, Ismail Turay
Teacher: Vanessa Corbin, Sabrina Gates

 

 

 

Why LSCs-- and good, trained and attentive members--matter and are endorsed by the HPKCC Schools Committee. Particularly important in light of repeated filing of bills to eliminate or eliminate the powers of LSCs.

Parents United for Responsible Education (PURE) issued a "fact sheet" on LSCs

LSCs Improve Schools

The Illinois Supreme Court in 1990 said that LSCs are essential units of educational governance, empowered to make important budgetary, educational, and administrative decisions regarding the Chicago public school system. [t]he legislature has given them the primary responsibility for school governance and improvement....

A 2004 report by Archon Fung of Harvard uses LSCs as a model of empowered deliberative participation. He found, according to the fact sheet, that LSCs increase accountability, build social capital, held encourage parents - especially minority- become more involved. Most importantly, the study found LSCs t have a positive impact on student achievement.

U. of C. Consortium on Chicago School Research studies such as "Charting the Course" found high LSC effectiveness: principals gave a strong endorsement of LSC principal selection, 70% of teachers said LSCs were helping make their school better, and that the LSCs ar an overwhelming percentage of minority elected officials in Illinois.

"The Big Picture," 2005, Designs for Change, showing a correlation between schools with up trending scores and effective LSCs. [Download "The Big Picture" and other studies from the Designs for Change website.]

"Sharing Our Successes: The LSC Gold Star Awards for 2002" by Community Media Workshop's Successful Schools Project highlighted LSC contributions:

  • integrating arts into the curriculum
  • creating collaborative school improvement plans that have lifted schools out of probation
  • successfully advocating for new school buildings and facilities improvements
  • involving parents and local businesses in the school's Character Education program
  • implementing a family literacy project.

LSCs- real elected officials

Do LSCs represent enough people to be making the important decisions?

Other school boards are not challenged on these grounds [the ones that have elections!]

Northbrook D 27- 10,000 residents. The top vote getter (unopposed) received 716. Glencoe D35- 6,000 eligible. Top of 3 unopposed 178 votes (3%).

7,000 ran and over 100,000 voted in every LSC elections. (465,706 voted in the last mayoral election 15% and Mayor Daley got 324, 519 votes.) LSC elections in the 13th Senatorial District 15 ran per school, with 1, 294 votes cast, an average of 321 per school-note one can vote for up to five.
LSCs boast the largest number of elected African-American and Latino officials in the nation.

Myth v Reality: Challenges to LSC principal contract decisions

Non-renewal arbitrations: Myth: All to principals lost. Reality-3 lost, 6 withdrew, 2 defaulted

Arbitration standard: Myth: Personalities and a student's grade. Reality: Results are confidential but in one known, that school ranked last in its area in nearly every category.

LSC members as unqualified to hire/fire. Reality: LSC members are significantly better educated than average Illinois adults--31% have bachelors (v 21%, 32% some collage v 25%. Only 13% lack high school diploma v 24% Illinois. No one is suggesting the 900 Illinois elected school boards be disbanded or their powers stripped.

CPS role. Myth: CPS is accountable for results so should select principals. Reality: CPS already prescreens, and LSCs choose from these. Selection for local needs is shown to do best.

Why PURE support's HJR0071.

  • Local School Councils Work. Test scores have risen impressively at schools that were lo-performing but remained under LSC governance and not central office intervention v little progress in schools that were low in 1989 but where decisions are made by CPS. Source: The Big Picture from Designs for Change.
  • The LSC Law works. A check and balance where needed most- in the schools.
    • The cleanest unit of government in Chicago with over 20,000 having served.
    • Law provides principals whose contracts are not renewed opportunity for due process before an independent hearing officer. In the 3 hearings lost, the principals lost and the LSCs were ruled within bounds.
  • LSCs need more support, not less. CPS does not meet the need for training and information:
    • No guidebook or training manual for members elected in 2006
    • Funding not renewed for a successful, independent conflict resolution program
    • CPS takes public sides against LSCs and then sits in judgment over them later: Supervision and monitoring must be move out of CPOS into a neutral entity while CPS provides more resources for the schools and LSCs.

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LSCs have had other good reviews and defenders-- notwithstanding there are drawbacks and they need not only good, dedicated people willing to give the time but strong resources from downtown

PURE writes March 16 2010. From the Sun-Times

"This is the 20th anniversary of LSCs, an experiment unique to Chicago to give parents and neighborhood folks a real voice in running their schools. For the most part, research suggests that LSCs work, helping schools function better and drawing resources and parents into the schools. But LSCs are only as good as the people who run for them."

Joe Moreno, newly-appointed 1st ward alderman, in the same Sun-Times issue: Moreno...has served as a member of the local school council at Jose Diego Academy..."What I can bring as a businessman and as a local school council member is sort of a bridge and a connection to those two entities because they really need to be working together," Moreno said.

What the HPKCC Schools Committee concludes about LSC's greatest needs:

  • Parent participation including running for LSC
  • Training
  • Liaison staffing and sound advice especially on complicated issues such as the SIPA (school improvement plan, to which all the required reporting, funding and school programs must relate); better access to downtown experts and liaisons.

Feb. 7 2008 PURE files lawsuit re LSCs

The suit alleges CPS closes schools and reopens them to have appointed LSCs and strip them of powers invested by law. Julie Woestehoff of PURE said the law exempts charter and Renaissance 2010 schools unless housed in a building that uses to be a public school with an LSC. But CPS has only token LSCs in such reconstituted schools in older buildings. "CPS has embraced the exception but not the exception to the exception." Woestehoff says that with all the closings it is hard to find people who have a stake in the schools. .

 

School boundaries

Kenwood's is 47th, Cottage, 60th, Stony, 56th, Lake Michigan.
Canter's is the Harte, Ray, and Shoesmith districts.
Murray is a magnet school so has no boundaries, an explanation left off this map from the April 12 Herald.

Some local school addresses:

  • Canter Middle. 4959 S. Blackstone
  • Bret Harte Elementary. 1556 E. 56th
  • Kenwood Academy High School. 5015 S. Blackstone
  • Kozminski Community Academy. 936 E. 54th
  • Murray Language Academy. 5335 S. Kenwood
  • Ray Elementary. 5631 S. Kimbark
  • Reavis Elementary. 834 E. 50th
  • Shoesmith Elementary. 1330 E. 50th

 

 

Timetable outline for Local School Council election (under construction)

Get the Chicago Public Schools Office of School Council Relations Guide to Local School Council Elections Timeline Outline. 773 553-1400. Or contact pure@pureparents.org. Next election spring, 2010- April 22 in high schools, April 21 in elementary.

Nominations for LSC parent and community positions are due March 4 (3 pm downtown) or 11 (3 pm at school), depending on means of submission (no faxes, 2 forms of ID needed when submitting). This year, candidacy was poorer than usual.

March 15 Principals post final list of candidates and any statements and sends letter to parents with candidates, forum and election dates.

March 18 5 pm is deadline to file challenges with law department- fax 773 553-1769 or 1702.

March 22 Law dept sends list of challenged to school and area.

Candidate forums will be held between March 22 and 26. Poll watcher credentials are distributed, ballot position is decided by lottery at forum.

Any literature to be sent home by the school on April 19 must be submitted to the principal by 3 pm April 15 in packages of 35.

April 19 9 am Principal posts revised specimen ballots with names in lottery order. Candidates lit. set. 3 pm deadline for inspection for ballot errors/

April 19021 high school student nonbinding poll

April 20. Final corrections, posting of ballots, ballots secured. All campaign literature removed by 3 pm

April 21 elementary, April 22 high schools. Election. Principal and Engineer arrive by 5:15 am, judges by 5:30 am. Polls open at 6 and close at 7-- if open late, have to stay open the same amount of time.

After the vote is final, principal posts final vote and enters all totals into computer and notifies the Area Office before leaving the school.

April 30 5 pm final deadline to file challenges with teh Law Dept.- fax to 773 553-1769 or 1702- request and retain the fax receipt.
8 pm deadline for LSCs to convene and certify the results and break parent or community ties by lottery.

May 3 12 pm deadline for LSC to file Certification of Results with Area Office. Area Office breaks any unbroken ties and certifies results by 3 pm.

May 5-28 post election challenge hearings.

June 6 CEO or designee rules on challenges by 3 pm.

June 23 Board of Ed appoints teacher and high school student representatives.

July 1-14 Annual LSC organizational meetings.

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Join the Schools Committee, working to build LSCS and participation in LSCs, elections- call 773 288 8343 or contact Nancy Baum.

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Table of public schools with addr/phone, LSC calendar, uniform policy, principal, and lsc or alternative chairperson.

(Latest update end of 2009.)

February 9 only- Kenwood's LSC meeting starts at 6 pm, followed at 7 pm by open School Improvement plan session.

School Address Calendar Uniform Contact:
Ariel Comm. Academy 1110 E. 46th
(773) 535-1996		 Meets third Monday of the month at 8:00 am. lt blue top, navy bot. Principal Lynnette Coleman
LSC chair Virna Holmes?
Miriam G. Canter Middle School

4959 South Blackstone
(773) 535-1410

 Meets the first Tuesday of the month at 6:00 pm preceded by PTO at 5:30 no uniform Principal Colleen Conlan
LSC chair Kelly Gill
Andrew Carnegie 1414 E. 61st St.
(773 534-0530		 Meets every other month second Tuesday starting Nov. 10, time? yellow tops, navy blue bots. Principal Marlene Heath
LSC chair Tina B. Mohammed
Walter H.Dyett Academic Center 555 E. 51st
(773) 535-1825		 Meets the second Tuesday of the month at 6:00 pm, room 139. 7th-8th Black, gray and beige poo with Dyett logo Principal Robert McMiller
LSC chair (to elect)
Bret Harte School 1556 East 56th Street
(773) 535-0870		 Meets the second Wednesday of the Month in the gym at 6 pm (PTO 5:30?, PAC 2nd Thurs. 6). white or blue tops, blue bots. Principal Shenethe Parks
LSC chair Diane Billingsley
Hyde Park Career Academy 6220 Stony Island
(773) 535-0530		 Meets the last Thursday of the month at 6;30 pm navy blue or white polo, khaki bots Principal Thomas Trotter
LSC chair (to elect)
Kenwood Academy High School

5015 South Blackstone
(773) 535-1350

 Meets now meets the second Tuesday of the month at 6:30 pm in Library Media Room.
PAC fourth Tuesday ? at 6:00 pm Library Media Room		 no uniform Principal Elizabeth Kirby
LSC president Ismail Turay
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. College Prep High Sch. 4445 S. Drexel Blvd.
773 535-1180 		Meets the third Tuesday of the month at 5:30 pm no uniform Principal Jeff Wright
LSC chair Sharvella Christmas
Charles Kozminski Community Academy

936 East 54th
(773) 535-0980

 Meets the fourth Wednesday of the month at 6:30 pm. white tops, blue bots Principal Lionel Bordelon
LSC chair Cynthia Scaife
Phillip Murray Language Academy

5335 South Kenwood
(773) 535-0585

Meets the third Wednesday of the month at 6:00 pm. PTO 1st Wednesday at 6:00 pm

no uniform Principal  Gregory Mason
LSC chair Rhonda Hawkins-Lyke
PTO chair
North Kenwood-Oakland UC Charter 1119 E. 46th St. (773) 536-2399 PTCO meets the third Tuesday of the month at 6:00 pm room 204 except meets October 14. (Note, another source says 4th Tuesday) maroon tops,
khaki bots		 Timothy Knowles, Director, (Stacey Beardsley)
Tanika Island Smith, Principal
PTCO chair La'keisha Gray-Sewell
Florence B. Price Fine Arts Elem. School 4351 S. Drexel Blvd.
(773) 535-1300

Meets the second Monday of the month at 5:00 pm)

 white tops, green bots Principal Loretta Coleman
LSC chair Ms. Cooper
William H. Ray Elementary School 5631 South Kimbark
(773) 535-0970

Meets the second Monday of the month. Alternates 8 am (April, June) and 6:30 (March, May, July?) pm.

no uniform Principal Bernadette Butler
LSC chair Raymond Lodato,
PTA Dana Roby
Claude H. Reavis Elementary School 834 East 50th
(773) 535-1060		 Meets the first Wednesday of the month at 7:30 am white or blue tops, blue bots Principal Michael T. Johnson
LSC chair Charlene Campbell
Jackie Robinson 4225 S. Lake Park Ave. (773) 535-1777 Meets the third Wednesday of the month at 6:00 pm  white tops, Navy blue bots Principal Jacqueline Thomas
LSC chair De'Shunn
Beulah Shoesmith Elementary School 1330 East 50th St
(773) 535-1764		 Meets the first Wednesday of the month at 5:30 pm except meets April 2009 1st Thursday white tops, navy blue pants Principal Patricia Watson
LSC chair Sherri Donald
University Charter-Woodlawn 6420 S. Woodlawn
(773) 752-8101
 PTCO meets the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 6:00 pm navy blue and maroon top, khaki bots Director Shane Evans
PTCO chair Jim Julian (James Speights?)

Hyde Park Career Academy's as yet unknown. 6220 S. Stony Island. 773 535-088o Thomas Trotter, Principal.

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PURE (Parents United for Responsible Education) has assembled a guide to elections. Here is a summary of key points. (this needs updating for 2010)

To receive the book, call 312 489-9101.

Who sits on the LSC? The principal, 6 elected parents, not BoE employees 2 teachers (polled) , 2 elected non-parent community residents with no children enrolled in the school as of June 30 of the election year and not relatives of the principal or BoE employees), in high schools one student (polled).

The LSC is the policymaking body for the school. Its responsibilities are:

  • approving the School Improvement Plan
  • approving the school's budget
  • evaluating the principal
  • hiring the principal

The meeting schedule must be posted in the school and is usually monthly. Everyone can attend and except for executive sessions they are covered by the Open Meetings Act. All votes must be taken in public. Meetings are usually monthly.

A parent of a child in the school or a resident of the attendance area is eligible unless a CPS employee.

Elections are held even years (every two years) in spring. (2006 Elementary are on April 20, high schools April 20, 6 am-7 pm. Hint- it's always Report Card Pickup Day. Note, U.S. citizenship not required.

The Candidate Nomination Form requires: Name, address, type of candidacy and proof of eligibility (2 forms of ID--parents must be listed in school enrollment records or tax return or birth certificate. Community residents must bring proof of residency.
Declaration of any economic interests at the school
Criminal Conviction Disclosure
Telephone Number Disclosure (for BOE and confidential)
Teacher or student information form for those in those categories
Candidate Statement (optional, one page, can include picture)

Hint: get a copy of all forms and get a signed, dated receipt!

Remember the deadline to file is March 17 [passed] and literature distribution day is April 18--One 8x12 page. You furnish enough copies for every child (the school is not allowed to make or copy), divided into piles of 35--must be at school by 3 pm April 17.

Caution again--No one can use school resources including staff, equipment or material to endorse or promote andy candidate or slate. Staff may not recommend candidates. If anyone sees violations, call CPS Law Department 73 553-1700. Staff can be suspended up to 30 days.

Voting

  • Vote at every school where you are eligible--at least 1 elementary and 1 high school, maybe middle. Parents may vote at all schools where they have a child enrolled. Election Hotline: 773 553-1400.
  • You do not need to be a U.S. Citizen, do have to be 18 or older.
  • If a school is not accessible, it must provide curb-side voting for persons with disabilities.
  • Bring two forms of ID that include your address.
  • Voting is in person and by secret ballot and only for yourself.
  • You may vote for up to 5 candidates only, and each only once. Select any combination of parent and community candidates.

(For teachers: it is secret and in person, principal and assistant do not vote, principal submits the 4 top vote getters to CPS, which appoints June 28.)

Preparing for the election:

LSC (or principal) is to establish and LSC Judge recruitment committee. None can be candidates or supporters of candidates. Judges receive $100 for the day. Training is mandatory. Cannot be under 18, student or staff at the school, Board employee, LSC candidate there or immediate family/residing in same house as candidate or principal. Application deadline is March 24.

Also recommended: By January 20 Develop plan to publicize the election, set date for Candidates Forum (for between March 27 and April 3), set date for certification meeting (no later than April 28 8 pm).

Hold the forum--place must be accessible; all candidates must be notified and invited. Lottery for ballot position is held at this forum. Recommend doing this as first item and using as order of speaking.

Coordinate with Report Card Pick-Up. Greet parents and encourage them to vote before they get report cards! Remove all campaign materials from the school the day before the election by 3 pm!

Hold results certification meeting by April 28, 8 pm.

Electioneering must be more than 100 feet from any school entrance. Post this at several places in the school.

Principal's responsibilities:

Public information: Post procedures, timeline, eligibility, boundary map.
Send two letters to parents. Dec. 1-9 nomination and challenge procedures, timeline, eligibility
March 20 list of candidates, info on the Forum, election date-hours-location.
Post filing of candidates (within 24 hours of first filing) with statements; update daily as changes occur.
Prepare literature distribution day April 18
By 9 am April 17 post revised ballot in lottery order. Candidates can correct by 3 pm. At 4 pm it is final.
Post election results as soon as count is complete.
Assure that no school resources are used to promote candidates
Provide and collect nomination papers, forward copies to Area Office.
Accept applications for judge and forward to Area Office by March 24. (Note judges and monitors make all decision about the election).
Distribute 6 poll watcher credentials to each candidate at the Candidate's Forum.
Prepare for judges a complete list of all staff eligible to vote for teacher (not principal or asst.)
Provide a list all students enrolled in the school.
Conduct student non-binding advisory poll between April 18 and 19)
Receive all ballots and place in security envelopes in the school safe.
Forward security envelopes to Area Office.

Poll watchers. Candidates or pollwatchers with valid credentials can witness all phases. Mx is 6. Civic groups can ave a credential for every school inservice area and every multi-school area. Candidates can have only one pollwatcher in the polling place at any given time.

The Challenge (which anyone can do) procedures are quite precise, including hearing notifications. Eligibility is the main grounds in pre-election challenges. Post-election challenges require signature of at least 5 vote-eligible. Note deadlines t file, hearing etch.

Results must be posted in the school after the count is final on election night. Highest numbers are declared elected. Current LSC certifies by 8 pm April 28 and determines winner in case of a tie. The public must be informed of challenge procedures. Certification of Results is to be filed by May 1. Teacher and student reps. are selected/announced by the Board June 28.

The organizational meeting is between July 1 and 14. It can be called by any 4 or more elected, but a quorum of 6 for elementary and 7 for high school must be present to conduct business. This meeting: sets time and place for regular LSC meetings, selects a parent member as chairperson, selects a secretary. If less than a minimum of "eligible's" are elected by a quorum is, the LSC shall fill vacancies (except teacher). If less than a quorum is elected, CPS decides course--773 553-1400.

Removals. Any member may be removed by majority vote if the member has missed 3 consecutive regular meetings within 12 mo. There is due process. There are other bases for removal.


Why LSCs?

Adult Collaboration Improves Schools and student achievement. strong academic expectations combined with trusting relationships make a difference, research shows.

Successful Schools have Common Practices. 1997 Designs for Change identified:

  • Active and effective Local School Councils
  • Effective principles who involve others in decision making
  • More teacher involvement in decision making
  • More teacher outreach to parents
  • Students who feel safe in the schools
  • Teacher collaboration and information sharing
  • Teachers who trust one another
  • Teachers who are encouraged to innovate
  • An overriding focus on improved student achievement.

Cooperative Adult Effort Raises Academic Achievement

Social Support Motivates Students to Learn, giving a sense of trust, confidence and safety

Common traits of collaborative LSC relationships

Shared Knowledge of the Law and agreed-upon way of checking and reporting back.

Shared Information: Principals proved timely, adequate information to the entire LSC including giving each member a set of key school documents including school improvement plan implementation et al.

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Strong LSCs, selection of strong principals intertwined

From Herald March 22 [2006]. By Tameka Brown

....Among its many duties, the local school council is responsible for selecting and evaluating principals every four years. James Deanes, in charge of LSC relations for Chicago Public Schools, said the council's role in the selection of principals is important."A principal's leadership sets the tone for staff [and] influences parent participation," Deanes said. "It's the most important thing an LSC can do."

In 1988, the Chicago School Reform Act created the existence of local school councils, which in most public schools in the city are comprised of parent representative, teacher representatives and community representatives, and in the case of a high school there is also a student representative. The act entrusted decisions about student development, financial management and principal selection to the representatives on a local school council.

Zoe Mikva, member of Canter LSC and of the HPKCC Schools Committee says " LSCs have real power and they are a wonderful way to stay involved in the community." She works on the school improvement plan and budget. "We work in tandem with the principal. I think it is important that the administration of every school be accountable. LSC is the group to whom they are accountable.

[Caution: the strong lsc has to fight the temptation, including on the part of parents, to select those thought more amenable and nice, or male (thought by some essential as role models). And evaluating and selecting the principal is the most important part of the LSC job-- trainers should remember that.]

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