HUMBOLDT PARK \u2014 ChiArts students, parents and teachers are shocked and upset about the art school board\u2019s decision not to renew its contract with Chicago Public Schools due to financial strain, putting the school\u2019s future in limbo.<\/p>\n
The news, announced last week, has created uncertainty among teachers, parents and students at Chicago High School for the Arts, who hope CPS can save Chicago\u2019s only arts-focused public high school from potentially closing. The board\u2019s decision opens up old wounds for Rousemary Vega, a ChiArts parent whose daughter is a freshman studying acting. Vega, of Humboldt Park, was a vocal critic of CPS closing Lafayette Elementary in 2013, the building at 2714 W. Augusta Blvd. now occupied by ChiArts.<\/p>\n
Vega\u2019s daughter, 15-year-old Zamara Ramos, was 2 years old when Lafayette closed; it would have been her neighborhood school. Getting to attend ChiArts as a teenager, and in her own neighborhood, made for an exciting start to her high school experience. Now, Ramos is worried it will be taken away. \u201cThis school means a lot to a lot of people, and I don\u2019t want to see it go down in crumbles again, because this school, it\u2019s legendary,\u201d Ramos told reporters Friday outside the school. Ramos, who was bullied at her previous school, said she has found her community and made lasting friends at ChiArts, which in turn has helped her open up and feel comfortable as a performer.<\/p>\n
ChiArts is a privately managed contract school funded by CPS and private donors that\u2019s been open for 15 years. It enrolls about 550 students across the city, most of them Black and Hispanic, according to CPS data. The students get an academic and arts education. Olivia Bonilla, a freshman studying music, hopes ChiArts stays open as an arts conservatory. Like Ramos, she said she chose the school to pursue her passion \u2014 and because as a public high school, it\u2019s free. \u201cChiArts is not only a school; it\u2019s a community. So many students in here seem so happy to be in this school,\u201d said Bonilla, of Garfield Park. If it were to close, Bonilla worries that many students \u201cdon\u2019t even know where to go after this.\u201d<\/p>\n
The students were among dozens who attended an hourslong sit-in at the school Friday in front of the administration\u2019s office. Many had signs that read, \u201cThis is our home,\u201d and \u201cSave ChiArts,\u201d according to photos shared with Block Club. Ramos and Bonilla said administration came out and talked to students but didn\u2019t answer their questions about funding and what students could do to keep the school open. After students returned to class Friday, Principal Nestor Corona exited the school with security and declined to answer reporters\u2019 questions.<\/p>\n
ChiArts parent Rousemary Vega speaks with school principal N\u00e9stor Corona outside the Humboldt Park arts school, 2714 W. Augusta Blvd., on Oct. 3, 2025, the day after finding out the school\u2019s art board voted not to renew its contract with CPS amid funding challenges. Credit:<\/span> Ariel Parrella-Aureli\/Block Club Chicago<\/span><\/p>\n A teacher who spoke to Block Club anonymously for fear of retribution from ChiArts administration said the board\u2019s decision was not surprising, given recent administration\u2019s \u201cnegligence to including the community in these large decisions,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel a sense of determination to fight for our school, especially as a school that is an important safe space for our queer students, but frustrated that we were not included this in this decision,\u201d the teacher said. \u201cThey\u2019re cutting us off at the knees.\u201d<\/p>\n In recent years, ChiArts has struggled with disorganized leadership and staff turnover, budget shortfalls and layoffs that almost led to a teacher strike in 2023. Like charter schools, ChiArts has its own independent board. The school\u2019s contract was renewed last year by CPS for a two-year term and is currently on financial remediation until 2026. CPS only supported a two-year recommendation because the school received a \u201cDoes Not Meet Standards\u201d rating in the financial and operational performance criteria.<\/p>\n In a letter sent last week to families and staff, Executive Director Tina Boyer Brown and Corona alerted the community about the board\u2019s vote, calling it a \u201cvery difficult decision.\u201d Introduction to the Crisis HUMBOLDT PARK \u2014 ChiArts students, parents and teachers are shocked and upset about the art school board\u2019s decision not to renew its contract with Chicago Public Schools due to financial strain, putting the school\u2019s future in limbo. The Impact on Students and Parents The news, announced last week, has created uncertainty […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-29745","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2025\/10\/chi-arts-students-scaled.jpeg?w=1920&resize=1920,1363&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29745"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29745"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29747,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29745\/revisions\/29747"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Teacher’s Perspective<\/h2>\n
History of Challenges<\/h2>\n
Response from the School and CPS<\/h2>\n
\n<img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="1024" height="682" src="https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2024\/09\/090424-Chicago-High-School-for-the-Arts-Colin-Boyle-4723-1024×682.jpg?resize=1024%2C682&ssl=1<\/a>" alt="" class="wp-image-744117" srcset="https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2024\/09\/090424-Chicago-High-School-for-the-Arts-Colin-Boyle-4723.jpg?resize=1024%2C682&ssl=1<\/a> 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2024\/09\/090424-Chicago-High-School-for-the-Arts-Colin-Boyle-4723.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1<\/a> 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2024\/09\/090424-Chicago-High-School-for-the-Arts-Colin-Boyle-4723.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1<\/a> 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2024\/09\/090424-Chicago-High-School-for-the-Arts-Colin-Boyle-4723.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1<\/a> 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2024\/09\/090424-Chicago-High-School-for-the-Arts-Colin-Boyle-4723.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1<\/a> 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2024\/09\/090424-Chicago-High-School-for-the-Arts-Colin-Boyle-4723.jpg?resize=1568<\/a>%<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"