Parents, teachers protest changes at Chicago High School for the Arts

Parents, teachers and students at the Chicago High School for the Arts pushed back against proposed changes Tuesday.

They gathered outside ChiArts, located in the former Lafayette Elementary School building at 2714 W. Augusta Blvd. in the West Town community, to protect what they say makes the school special.

The Chicago Public Schools district is taking over the school beginning next school year. ChiArts has up to this point operated as a charter school.

Organizers said CPS recently proposed compressing 150 minutes of arts instruction into a seven-hour, 15-minute school day from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Currently, ChiArts students get three hours in a nine-hour day, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., to work on a specific arts discipline such as dance, theater, or music.

They claim this will make it harder for the school to provide arts training and to meet other academic requirements like AP classes, IEP protections, and English learner services. Organizers said about 16% of students at ChiArts have IEPs, or Individualized Education Programs, for specialized instruction.

Parents are now asking the district to create and share a four-year master plan showing how the school can meet its requirements under the new proposed model.

"We are here today because the Chicago Public Schools must stop the illusion of inclusion, and return to real collaboration," Lisa Miranda, ChiArts parent and member of the parent advocacy committee, said at the rally Tuesday morning. "For months, parents have shown up. We have met with CPS. We have submitted written proposals. We have completed surveys. We have offered structural solutions. We have been respectful, informed, and ready to work  And now, we are being presented by a compressed model that fundamentally changes the structure making ChiArts what it is."

Miranda said ChiArts cannot take a risk that the arts programs that define the school could be shortchanged.

"ChiArts is not a school with arts electives," she said. "It is a nationally recognized conservatory model serving more than 560 students from across the city."

Samantha Gonzalez, a junior musical theater major at ChiArts, said she has experienced success that would not have been possible without the educational model that she said the proposed changes would jeopardize.

"If our classes and schedules were to change, my experience would not have been the same. I am the student I am today because of all the variety of classes I've had at ChiArts, and the support for all my education," Gonzalez said. "I've been able to perform in multiple productions with Lookingglass' Young Ensemble, I was a winner in the August Wilson monologue competition, and as of last month, I got to direct a show with my friend where it was all student-led. My fellow students and I are here because of what we have gotten to experience. My senior year deserves a year that should not shift dramatically."

Zamara Ramos, a freshman at ChiArts, said she feels her dreams of becoming an actress could be at risk with the compression of arts programs.

"I really enjoy having a space where everyone gets it, where my teachers aren't just instructors, but mentors who know my specific goals. I hope we can keep the unique conservatory program that makes ChiArts feel like a second home," she said. "When you talk about reenvisioning or changing our program, you aren't just changing a curriculum. You're breaking up dreams and hopes."

Zamara questioned whether CPS sees students as anything beyond "numbers on a spreadsheet."

Risha Tenae Hill has been a teaching artist at the theater conservatory at ChiArts for eight years, and is also a working professional in the theater community. At the rally, she too emphasized the need to maintain the uniqueness of ChiArts.

"We aren't asking CPS to just keep the lights on," Hill said. "We are asking to keep the soul of this school intact."

Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th) also spoke in support of ChiArts as it currently operates.

"In a moment of political turmoil, it is art," she said. "It is art that allows young people to liberate themselves, to express themselves."

In November, the Chicago Board of Education voted unanimously for CPS to take over ChiArts. The school will officially transition from charter to district-managed school effective July 1 of this year. 

The school will be a CPS-managed school beginning in the 2026-2027 school year — serving 600 students from grades 9 through 12.

The operator of ChiArts — which as a charter school has been publicly funded, but privately managed — announced in October that it would not renew its contract with CPS.