LITTLE VILLAGE — Little Village area schools are set to lose more than $3.8 million next year as Chicago Public Schools slashes budgets across the city.
Ginger Ostro, the chief financial officer for CPS, announced this month that 238 schools would see an increase in funding totaling $68.5 million. But while those schools gain, 416 schools — including several in Little Village — will experience cuts, totaling about $99.5 million citywide.
"Money follows the students," Ostro said, adding that projected CPS enrollment for the coming school year is 372,275 — down about 1 percent from last year.
In Little Village, enrollment at neighborhood and charter schools is expected to decrease by about 400 students. While six area schools will gain money next year — to a tune of about $393,000 — most schools are set to lose.
The hardest hit school was Finkl Elementary, which straddles Pilsen and Little Village, and serves students from each community. The school anticipates 43 fewer students for an overall budget loss of 14.8 percent. The school is down to a $2.4 million budget, from $2.8 million last year.
[For detailed school-by-school budgets, see below.]
McCormick and Crown elementary schools will each see budget drops of about 11 percent. At McCormick, enrollment is down by 44 students for a new budget of $4.6 million, down from $5.1 million last year. And at Crown, there will be 27 fewer students, reducing this year's $1.9 million budget to $1.7 million.
At the Social Justice High School, which is part of the larger Little Village Lawndale High School Campus, the budget will drop about 9 percent, from $2.5 million to $2.2 million. The school expects 29 fewer students.
“No one would argue that these are the budgets that we would like to be presenting, but they reflect the reality of where we are today; a budget deficit of more than $1 billion; the demands of a broken pension system; and a state education funding that is near last in the country,” said interim CPS CEO Jesse Ruiz.
“We will continue to work with our partners in Springfield on a comprehensive solution, but in the meantime we have to prepare for the upcoming school year," he continued. "We have tried to limit the impact on our classrooms, but we sympathize with teachers, parents and principals whose schools will be seeing fewer resources than last year.”
But it's not all bad. Six Little Village area schools will gain money, and one will see its budget remain the same, according to data from CPS.
The biggest gains will happen at two high schools. Infinity Math, Science and Technology High School, which expects just three extra students, is set to see a 6.8-percent budget increase, from $3.1 million this year to $3.3 million next year. And Spry Community Links High School, which expects six more students, will see its budget jump from $1.5 million to $1.6 million, or about 4.8 percent.
Though enrollment is down by five students at Multicultural Academy of Scholarship High School, the school will see a slight 1.7-percent budget increase, moving from $1.98 million to $2 million. That jump can be attributed to nearly $73,000 in supplemental funds, or money from state and federal programs that is typically tied to low-income and at-risk students.
Three additional schools — UNO Octavio Paz Charter School, Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy Charter School and Telpochcalli Elementary School — will see slight gains, ranging from .3 to 1.55 percent increases.
Lazaro Cardenas Elementary School is expecting identical enrollment with no significant overall budget changes.
Here's how each Little Village school fared:
• With 619 students, there’s no change in enrollment at Lazaro Cardenas Elementary School, 2345 S. Millard Ave. The budget has been set at $4,150,406. That’s $34 less than the school received this year. Core-instruction funds are down $190,750, but the school was allotted $190,716 in supplemental funds.
• At Rosario Castellanos Elementary School, 2524 S. Central Park Ave., student enrollment is up by 9, but the budget is set to decrease by 2.2 percent to $3,465,424. The school is gaining $8,961 in core-instruction funds but losing $87,757 in supplemental funds. Anticipated enrollment is 580.
• Corkery Elementary School, 2510 S. Kildare Ave., is losing 19 students for a total enrollment of 521. The school’s budget of $3,379,437 is down 3.2 percent from last year. Core-instruction funds have dropped $84,251, and supplemental funds are down $26,422.
• Crown Community Academy, 2128 S. St. Louis Ave., took one of the biggest hits with an 11-percent drop in budget. The school is losing 27 students, and will have an enrollment of 249. Though Crown gained $17,889 in supplemental funds, it lost $222,466 in core-instruction funds for a total budget of $1,661,672.
• Farragut Career Academy High School, 2345 S. Christiana Ave., is losing 50 students and 2 percent of its budget. With a projected student body of 898, the school’s budget will sit at $7,093,565. The school is gaining $165,540 in supplemental funds, but losing $314,364 in core-instruction funds.
• Finkl Academy Elementary School, 2332 S. Western Ave., was the hardest-hit school in the area with 43 fewer students and a 14.8-percent budget loss. With a new projected enrollment of 367, the school is losing $137,979 in supplemental funds and $280,242 in core-instruction funds.
• With a budget of $6,580,827, Gary Elementary School, 3740 W. 31st St., is losing 1.9 percent of its funding. The school’s enrollment of 1074 is down 6 people from last year. The school will lose $88,571 in core-instruction funds and $35,568 in supplemental funds.
• Hammond Elementary School, 2819 W. 21st. Pl., is losing 14 students and 6.8 percent of its budget. Though the school is gaining $13,220 in supplemental funds, it’s losing $213,336 in core-instruction money for a total budget of $2,764,936. Enrollment is projected to hit 426.
• Infinity Math, Science and Technology High School, 3120 S. Kostner Ave., saw the biggest gains in Little Village. The school is only expected to add three students for a total enrollment of 420, but funding is up 6.8 percent to $3,320,559. The school is losing $2,320 in core-instruction funds, but gaining $214,047 in supplemental funding.
• At Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy, a charter school at 2534 S. Western Ave., numbers will remain relatively similar. The student body is down by 2 to 767, and the budget is up by 0.4 percent to $8,393,751. The school is losing $111,829 in core-instruction money, but gaining $145,050 in supplemental funds.
• Kanoon Elementary Magnet School, 2233 S. Kedzie Ave., is seeing small losses with 19 fewer students and a 3.3 percent drop in budget. The 2015-2016 enrollment is at 677. With $155,358 less in core-instruction funds, and a $1,854 gain in supplemental money, the budget sits at $4,499,372.
• Little Village Academy Elementary School, 2620 S. Lawndale Ave., is losing 7 students and 2.5 percent of its budget. Enrollment will sit at 818. The school is gaining $26,271 in supplemental funds, but losing $155,860 in core-instruction funds for a total budget of $5,154,911.
• Numbers at Madero Middle School, 3202 W. 28th St., are staying fairly steady. The school is losing 6 students for an enrollment of 318. The budget will dip 0.1 percent to $2,139,703. The school is losing $40,451 in supplemental funds, but gaining $38,065 in core-instruction money.
• McCormick Elementary School, 2712 S. Sawyer Ave., saw one of the biggest losses with a 10.6 percent drop in budget. The school is down 44 students to 680 total enrollment. It’s losing $386,704 in core-instruction funds and $155,796 in supplemental funds for a total budget of $4,590,893.
• Multicultural Academy of Scholarship High School, 3120 S. Kostner Ave., is losing 5 students but will see a 1.7 percent budget increase. Total enrollment for 2015-2016 is 272. The school will lose $38,792 in core-instruction money, but gain $72,996 in supplemental funds for a total budget of $2,015,978.
• At Ortiz de Dominguez Elementary School, 3000 S. Lawndale Ave., a 27-student drop in enrollment led to an 8.3 percent budget decrease. The school lost $44,599 in supplemental funds and $296,646 in core-instruction funds for a total budget of $3,750,690. Enrollment is at 582.
• With a projected student body of 128, Plamondon Elementary School, 2642 W. 15th Pl., is losing 14 students and 4.9 percent of its budget. The school is gaining $45,698 in supplemental funds but losing $91,440 in core-instruction money for a total budget of $896,318.
• Maria Saucedo Scholastic Academy, 2850 W. 24th Blvd., will lost 14 students and 1.55 percent of its budget. With 1,115 students, the school has one of the largest enrollments in the area. It is losing $270,166 in core-instruction funding, and gaining $152,243 in supplemental money for a total budget of $7,497,833.
• One of the largest cuts will happen at Social Justice High School, 3120 S. Kostner Ave., where projected enrollment is 302 and the budget sits at $2,238,590, which is 8.9 percent less than this year. The school is losing 29 students, as well as $17,570 in supplemental funds and $202,100 in core-instruction funds.
• John Spry Elementary Community School, 2400 S. Marshall Blvd., is losing 29 students and 4.7 percent of its overall budget. The school, which will have a total enrollment of 592, is gaining $9,127 in supplemental funds but losing $199,541 in core-instruction funding for a total budget of $3,892,768.
• Meanwhile, at Spry Community Links High School, 2400 S. Marshall Blvd., the student body is increasing by 6 and the budget is up 4.8 percent. The school is gaining $26,130 in core-instruction funds and $46,743 in supplemental funds for a total budget of $1,593,621. Enrollment is 190.
• Telpochcalli Elementary School, 2832 W. 24th Blvd., saw minor gains. There will be 6 additional students for an enrollment of 285. Though the school is losing $30,823 in supplemental funds, it’s gaining $61,824 in core-instruction funds for an overall budget of $2,034,049. That’s up 1.55 percent from this year.
• UNO Octavio Paz Charter School, 2651 W. 23rd St., is losing eight students, but still expecting a slight budget increase of 0.3 percent for an overall budget of $3,921,923. The school will lose $82,558 in core-instruction money, but gain $92,305 in supplemental funds. Enrollment is 405.
• Eli Whitney Elementary School, 2815 S. Komensky Ave., will drop 14 students for an enrollment of 994. The school is set to lose $74,656 in core-instruction funds, but will gain $42,509 in supplemental funding, for a total budget of $6,542,803. That’s down 0.5 percent from this year.
• At World Language High School, 3120 S. Kostner Ave., the budget is down 2.4 percent, though the school is only losing one student for a total enrollment of 337. The overall budget will be $2,557,588 after a $22,462 drop in core-instruction funds and a $41,413 drop in supplemental funding.
• York Alternative High School, 2700 S. California Ave., faces one of the larger budget drops in Little Village. With five fewer students, enrollment will sit at 356. The budget is dipping 6.9 percent to $5,511,150 after the school loses $409,856 in supplemental funds and receives the same amount of money in core-instruction funds.
• Emiliano Zapata Academy, 2728 S. Kostner Ave., will see its budget drop 5.4 percent as the school loses 39 students for a total enrollment of 784. The school’s overall budget will be $5,183,660 after a loss of $294,411 in core-instruction funds and $3,141 in supplemental money.
Citywide, so-called neighborhood schools are expected to enroll about 4,000 fewer students citywide in the fall, while charters increase enrollment by about 3,000 students, according to CPS, which released its projected budgets in July.
Basic student-based budgeting would remain level at $4,390 a student for grades 4-8, with $4,697 for students in kindergarten through third grade and $5,444 a pupil in high schools.
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