April 15
At its meeting, the Local School Council Advisory Board (LSCAB) considered several questions about the 2025 fiscal year CPS budget; allocation of resources, especially for English as a second language classes; and how better communication from LSCs to the Board of Education can be facilitated. The LSCAB advises the Chicago Board of Education on LSC matters such as elections, duties, and school improvement. It’s made up of eleven parents, two community members, and one teacher. There were no online public commenters but one at the in-person meeting complained about the two-minute commenter limit and asked that it be changed to three minutes. Principals received budget information on April 8 and it was recommended that they share it with their LSCs by April 12. The LSCs were to vote on the budgets by April 30. The Board then continued a discussion that began last October about its guidelines including goals in the preamble specifying that “local conflicts” be clarified as “local school conflicts,” and that issues of violence be addressed.
April 16
The Chicago City Council Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards heard public comments about expanding the widespread Additional Dwelling Units (ADUs) Ordinance at its meeting. Adopted by the City Council in late 2020, the ordinance expanded housing access across the city by allowing ADUs in attics, basements, and accessory buildings. ADUs include coach houses, backyard dwellings, and in-law apartments. The first speaker cited benefits that include multigenerational housing and rental income that would enable low-income homeowners to stay in their residences. A homeowner from the 47th Ward said his mother-in-law lives in a coach house on his property, the income from which has enabled him to raise a child in the city, and he suggested increasing the cap on square footage. A Lincoln Park resident said she wants to build an ADU but can’t because they are banned in her neighborhood.
April 22
At a meeting of the 5th Police District Council—Roseland/Pullman/Riverdale, Chair Robert McKay announced that CPD is not yet fully complying with a consent decree requiring it to reform its operations in several areas. Those areas include “training, policies, and practices in…use of force, community policing, impartial policing, training, accountability, officer wellness, data and information systems, and more,” according to the Office of Community Policing website. The goal is to ensure that CPD keeps “both community members and officers safe and restores the community’s trust” in the department. McKay promised to invite a University of Chicago professor and Anthony Driver, president of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA), to explain the decree and answer questions at the council’s next meeting. The council also heard about the implementation of the state’s 2021 SAFE-T Act, which stands for Accountability, Fairness, and Equity Today. One goal is to ensure that ability to pay bonds no longer determines freedom for arrested individuals. Other goals are to reduce incarceration and crime and to strengthen communities.
April 24
Attendees accused council members, guest speakers, and each other of being responsible for an increasing crime rate at a meeting of the 9th Police District Council—Chinatown/Bridgeport/Back of the Yards. Three incidents were cited: the recent killing of police officer Luis Huesca, an attempted kidnapping of two girls, and a shooting in Back of the Yards that left a seven-year-old girl dead and two boys, seven and one, injured. One commenter said that a council member is anti-police, which discourages police from patrolling and increases crime. Guest speakers were also blamed. Maggie Hickey from CPD’s consent decree Independent Monitoring Team and G. McDade, board chair of Cook County Crime Stoppers, made presentations. Hickey explained that her team measures CPD’s compliance to determine whether the police are fair and equitable in their work. Her office surveys residents across the city and applies other data-gathering tools. They also offer CPD support and counseling. She said that the department is struggling with staffing and a lack of community engagement. She was frequently interrupted with accusations of using skewed data and providing “bad” information about Black and Latino men’s police interactions. McDade experienced fewer interruptions. He explained that Crime Stoppers is a nonprofit organization that helps police solve felonies by offering cash rewards for tips. An audience member asked if any tips had led to wrongful convictions. McDade answered, “No.”
April 24
At its meeting, the Chicago Department of Public Health Board of Health announced that it has received more infectious-disease reports in 2024 than in the past five years combined. One probable reason, according to the Board, is that parents have delayed vaccinating their children. Sixty-four measles cases among “new arrivals” have been reported. Seven additional cases not associated with new arrivals are evidence that the disease is spreading. Audience questions implying that new arrivals were the source of an increase in measles prompted the board to explain that a lower vaccination rate is the issue, not new arrivals. The board is also trying to increase the number of eligible CPS students enrolled in Medicaid. While 79 percent are eligible, only about 85 percent of those students are enrolled, according to data supplied by the state. Plans to remedy the problem include a helpline, increased marketing, direct outreach to families, and school-based events. Other issues covered at the meeting were Black maternal health, drug-use and smoking reduction, and increasing vaccinations for COVID-19 and influenza.
April 25
At its meeting, the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA) heard comments about police actions, especially in connection with the death of Dexter Reed during a “pretextual” traffic stop on March 21. Reed was shot thirteen times and his death ruled a homicide by the Cook County medical examiner. Such stops are made for minor violations and are sometimes seen as pretexts for police to search for signs of other illegal activity. But they “are not improving traffic or public safety,” reported Impact for Equity, and are “disproportionately impacting Chicago’s Black and Latinx drivers and communities.” CCPSA president Anthony Driver acknowledged public frustration with the confidential nature of investigations into police misconduct but emphasized that process and fairness exist. Some attendees worried that an investigation being conducted by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) would be biased against police; others asked why CPD hasn’t fired the officers yet.
At a meeting of the Chicago Public Schools Board of Education, Chief Education Officer Bogdana Chkoumbova reported that CPS has received almost 75,000 pre-kindergarten applications, which include an expanded free daylong pre-K for four-year-olds. Offers are scheduled to be sent out beginning May 22. Chkoumbova also acknowledged the work of assistant principals and clerks, saying they play an important role in creating a welcoming atmosphere in the schools. A shortage of bus drivers remains an issue. Possible solutions are to extend pickup locations, adjust class schedules, help drivers obtain commercial driver’s licenses, and waive special requirements. The board has also raised hourly wages to $27 and a signing bonus, offered flexible schedules, and recruited drivers older than fifty at job fairs.
This information was collected and curated by the Weekly in large part using reporting from City Bureau’s Documenters at documenters.org.