Chicago Board of Education votes to keep 5 Acero charter schools open; some alarmed by ICE arrest near school
The Chicago Teachers Union expressed alarm this week after a father was arrested by immigration agents Wednesday morning as he was dropping off his kids at a charter school in the Gage Park neighborhood.
A community member sent a video showing the moments Acero Schools said an adult was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Wednesday morning outside Acero's Jovita Idár Elementary, 5050 S. Homan Ave.
On Thursday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement defended arresting the man who had just dropped off a child at Jovita Idár Elementary.
ICE confirmed its officers arrested Francisco Andrade-Berrera, 37. The agency claims Andrade-Berrera is a member of a violent street gang with multiple criminal convictions.
ICE said Andrade-Berrera has already been deported to Mexico twice — in 2005 and 2013.
The arrest was one of two top-of-mind issues for the dozens who showed up to a prayer vigil Wednesday night. The other was concerns about the possibility of some Acero schools closing after this school year.
The Acero Schools charter network is managed by a private company but funded and overseen by Chicago Public Schools leaders. There has been much back-and-forth over the last year about how many Acero schools will close this year, if any.
On Thursday, the Board of Education voted to keep five Acero charter schools open — Bartolomé de las Casas, 1641 W. 16th St.; Sandra Cisneros, 2744 W. Pershing Rd.; Carlos Fuentes, 2345 W. Barry Ave.; Esmeralda Santiago, 2510 W. Cortez St.; and Rufino Tamayo, 5135 S. California Ave.
This leaves out two Acero schools that have been threatened with closing after this school year — Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz K-12, 7416 N. Ridge Blvd., and Octavio Paz, 2651 W. 23rd St. The Chicago Teachers Union said the resolution allows CPS to close Cruz and Paz at the end of the school year.
The Chicago Public Schools on Wednesday sent a statement that read:
"Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has been in ongoing conversations and good faith negotiations with Acero to find a resolution that best serves families and students. The District has also been working diligently in conjunction with the current Chicago Board of Education to review various scenarios for Acero that would be viable and compliant with the law. A joint analysis between the District and Acero of the funding needs for the campuses revealed that CPS would not legally be able to fund Acero at the level needed to maintain all campuses, considering enrollment loss and the significant need for facility investments at the campuses. Where financially and legally possible, the District continues working to keep as many of the Acero campuses open as possible. CPS remains committed to supporting students, families and staff in finding a path forward and communicating all options to those impacted by potential Acero closures."
But for families at the vigil, they said after the apparent arrest Wednesday morning, their community has a lot on their minds.