Big win for the sit-in parents. "Cutoff called 'cruel'; Council orders repair study"

madfloridian

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Thu Oct-07-10 11:36 AM
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Big win for the sit-in parents. "Cutoff called 'cruel'; Council orders repair study"

It seems they not only turned the heat back on, but they are stopping the demolition to consider other plans. The school board under Ron Huberman was planning to demolish the field house at a cost of $354,000, put down fake grass for a soccer field, and turn it over to a next door parochial school.

A spokesman for Huberman excused it all by saying that 160 Chicago schools don't have libraries anyway.

Parents of students at the Whittier Dual Language School opened a new library in the occupied Whittier Field House on Thursday, September 30, with the help of the Chicago Underground Library and donations from as far away as Florida. The following photographs are from the ribbon cutting ceremony that officially opened the library at 5pm with speeches, song, prayer and -- of course -- some reading. Whittier Field House library

Today the city council stepped in.

Whittier heat on, demolition off

A CPS-commissioned engineering report called the field house "unsafe,'' so CPS wants to demolish it and put down artificial grass as a play area.

Pilsen parents say another engineering firm determined the structure is repairable, so they want it converted into a library and parent center. Protesters -- including pregnant women and children -- have been occupying the building round-the-clock since Sept. 15 to press their demand.

..."The decision to leave the field house at 1900 W. 23rd St. without heat or hot water as night temperatures fell into the 40s troubled two powerful aldermen: Finance Committee Chairman Edward M. Burke (14th) and Zoning Committee Chairman Danny Solis (25th), whose ward includes Whittier. They co-sponsored the City Council order -- unanimously approved Wednesday -- mandating that gas be restored "immediately" and that demolition be halted until a legislative task force releases recommendations on how CPS facilities should be repaired or built.

"This is a matter of health and welfare. They're bringing electric heaters into the building so these moms and kids who are sleeping there can have some heat overnight," Burke said.

Calling the shutoff "cruel and short-sighted," Burke said, "I don't know what genius at the Board of Education made this decision.''

Apparently that "genius" was former beat cop, former emergency management, former transit head, and non-educator...now head of the Chicago public schools, Ron Huberman.

Chicago Public Schools Chief 'Nervous' About Safety at Whittier

The protest at an elementary school field house in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood is entering its third week. A group of parents and supporters have camped out at the Whittier elementary school field house to prevent Chicago Public Schools from tearing it down. Schools chief Ron Huberman says the situation at Whittier is an accident waiting to happen.

HUBERMAN: Keep in mind my background was head of emergency management. I know an unsafe situation when I see one. That is a small building. That building has no carbon-monoxide detector. That building has no fire-suppression system. It's now full of books and it's full of kids. That makes us very, very nervous.

Huberman says the district will conduct a third building inspection once the protesters leave the building.

Well, Ron, it looks like they won't be leaving the building just yet. And Cristo Rey Parochial school will have to wait on its soccer field.