Weekly Reports on School Transition Progress Continue With Updates From CPS and City Departments

CHICAGO Today, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and City departments involved in the city-wide effort to implement a safe and smooth transition for students attending Welcoming Schools next fall continued their weekly briefings and reported on their progress to date.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has called on all City departments and agencies to work in tandem with CPS to support the city’s children, families and communities as students transition to welcoming schools this fall that will provide them with the high-quality, education they need to be on a path to success.

Status updates were reported today by CPS and three other City departments and sister agencies: the Public Building Commission (PBC), Department of Buildings (DOB), and the Department of Streets and Sanitation (DSS). Summaries of the reports are included below:

CPS

• Successfully completed a full inventory of furniture, technology equipment, and textbooks, and began the transfer of materials to welcoming schools;
• Worked with the Department of Family and Support Services to hire 245 youth and community members to assist in school transition work;
• Chose 19 community-based organizations as Safe Passage vendors, approved by the Board of Education, who will hire 600 new Safe Passage workers for the 2014-2014 school year as part of the program’s $7.7 million expansion to all welcoming schools;
  • Held a preliminary job fair in partnership with the vendors on July 1.
• Completed over 200,000 direct communications to parents and families through phone calls, text messages, emails, letters and flyers, encouraging them to enroll their children early for school this fall
  • Approximately 88 to 92 percent of students at have registered for the 2013-14 school year;
  • Among them, the vast majority have chosen to attend their dedicated Welcoming School in the fall.
• Coordinated close to 150 Welcoming Events between students at welcoming and closing schools, with additional events being planned school-by-school over the coming weeks;

PBC

• Construction teams have mobilized for all welcoming schools;
• Established some degree of minor demolition is required at all welcoming schools;
• Purchased 2,400 air conditioner units, with nearly half already located in Chicago;
• Fully coordinated requirements for air conditioning window assemblies for air conditioning and began window assembly work on July 1, 2013;
• Completed 100 percent of: facility assessments, required site surveys, coordination of electrical service and utility requirements, environmental surveys, geotechnical surveys for elevator installations and ADA ramps; 
• Obtained 107 permits for construction to date;
• Hosted six Minority and Women-Owned Business Outreach Sessions attended by more than 1000 participants;
• Held six job fairs for these projects, resulting in over 800 applicants.

DSS

• Addressed more than 16,000 service requests along the proposed Safe Passage routes, including:
• Towed more than 300 abandoned vehicles;
• Removed more than 1,500 instances of graffiti;
• Trimmed 2,200 trees;
• Mowed 4,100 lots; and
• Completed more than 4,000 rodent abatements.

DOB

• Identified 478 vacant buildings along the proposed Safe Passage routes;
• Completed initial investigations on an additional 155 locations;
• Addressed 309 of these 478 vacant buildings, which includes: boarding up and securing the building, compelling the owner to board up and secure the building, recommending the property be demolished, beginning legal proceedings against a negligent owner.