PORTAGE PARK — The Portage Park Neighborhood Association will host a forum Monday, Dec. 15, to discuss whether Chicago should have an elected school board.
However, residents in the 38th Ward, which includes parts of Portage Park and Dunning, won't get to weigh in on the matter.
Officials with the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners determined Tuesday that advocates for the non-binding referendum had not collected enough valid signatures from registered voters in the 38th Ward to put the measure on the Feb. 24 ballot, said spokesman Jim Allen.
The measure will be on the ballot in the 45th Ward, which includes parts of Portage Park as well as Jefferson Park, Old Irving Park, Gladstone Park and Forest Glen.
The seven-member Board of Education is currently appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel under Chicago Public Schools reforms pushed through by his predecessor, Richard M. Daley.
Parents, students teachers and activists have campaigned for an elected school board for more than a year.
State Rep.-elect Will Guzzardi, Wendy Katten, the co-founder of parent-advocacy group Raise Your Hand, and Owen Brugh, chief of staff to Ald. John Arena (45th), who has helped lead the push at City Hall for an elected school board, are scheduled to discuss the issue and take questions afterward.
The forum is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 15, at 4839 W. Irving Park Road.
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