CHICAGO — Three weeks after Chicago Public Schools announced that Walter H. Dyett High School on the border of Bronzeville and Washington Park would re-open as an open enrollment arts school, CPS has hired a principal.
CPS has appointed veteran principal Beulah McLoyd to the head job at Dyett, which was slated for closure after a Board of Education vote in 2012.
The plan to phase out Dyett led to protests and eventually a 34-day hunger strike that was called off Saturday. Protesters said they had no involvement in McLoyd's hiring. On top of the hunger strike, protesters took to education board and even budget meetings held by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, demanding that the school be re-opened.
The demonstrations and public pressure led CPS to announce on Sept. 3, that the school would re-open in Fall 2016 as an open enrollment arts school.
The announcement of McLoyd's hiring was one of the first major steps to re-opening the school next year.
McLoyd has been the principal at Michele Clark High School in Austin since 2010, CPS said in a press release. She was the assistant principal at Gage Park High School from 2006 to 2009, where she was also an English teacher for five years before her promotion.
Clark High School was embroiled in controversy under McLoyd's watch, when CPS' inspector general investigated claims of fradulent purchases and reimbursements from an employee there, CPS said. McLoyd's name was cleared, while other employees were charged, CPS said in a statement.
McLoyd said she looks forward to re-opening the school. Her position at Dyett is effective now, though the school wont open until next year. Applications for next year's freshman class will be accepted this October.
“As a Bronzeville resident, CPS parent and high school principal, I understand the need for a high-quality neighborhood option at Dyett, and I am fully committed to ensuring this school is the world-class success that the community deserves,” McLoyd said in a statement. “I look forward to develop [sic] a new neighborhood option with rigorous instruction and an elite arts program that will honor the legacy of Walter H. Dyett and prepare our students for a bright future.”
The hunger strikers, led by Jitu Brown, were successful in re-opening Dyett but were left out of the decision making process for the re-opened school, Brown said. The hunger strike did not immediately cease after CPS said it would salvage Dyett because protesters said their concerns and demands to be involved in the process were overlooked.
Though they had no involvement in her hiring, Brown said they are hopeful McLoyd can establish the school as a community pillar.
"She seems credible," Brown said of McLoyd. "I hope CPS gives her the resources she needs to be successful in the school. In the meantime, we'll keep fighting."
CPS also announced this week the creation of two "technical advisory committees" that will help development policies and curriculum at Dyett, CPS said. The committees will advise McLoyd, CPS said.
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