LITTLE VILLAGE — Parents and teachers at Maria Saucedo Scholastic Academy want Chicago Public Schools officials to keep them in the loop when an interim principal is put it place at the Little Village school.
CPS officials met with parents, teachers and community members Monday at a local school council meeting at the school to let them know about the process of selecting an interim principal.
Isamar Vargas Colón, who was principal at Saucedo for last five years, resigned last week. She is among more than 50 other principals in CPS who have either resigned or retired this year.
CPS officials offered two solutions for the group assembled. The first plan would involve bringing in an "administrator-in-charge," a person who is a retired principal who would oversee the day-to-day operation of the school. The second plan would put Saucedo's two assistant principals, Charlie McSpadden and Rene Santiago, in charge of the school while an interim principal is selected.
Many of the parents in attendance would rather have one of the assistant principals take over in the meantime.
"We want somebody who has already worked with the staff. I would want someone who already knows our community," said Yuri Garrido, who has two children that attend Saucedo. "We just want to make sure that we don't have a political preference that will give in to CPS and may not be willing to fight for our children."
Minerva Garcia-Sanchez, the chief of schools for the CPS network of schools that includes Saucedo, said even though she would be selecting an administrator for Saucedo if the first option was chosen, it was up the local school council to pick a new principal.
"The choice on who they pick is on them. I'm not stepping into it. It's for them to understand the other piece that needs to be heard," Garcia-Sanchez said. "This is a person who is available at the time. It's not about me driving the process."
Garcia-Sanchez told DNAinfo she wanted to bring in an administrator-in-charge by July 7.
Sarah Chambers, a Chicago Teachers Union executive board member, teaches special education at Saucedo. As she live-tweeted the meeting, Garcia-Sanchez's comment that she would be the one who decides who will take over at the school did not sit well with Chambers.
"I want to hear from u, but keep it in mind that I make the decision." -Minerva #saucedoLSC True colors of Minerva & CPS showing
— Sarah Chambers (@Sarah4Justice) June 27, 2016
"Frankly, I don't trust CPS. They never follow Democratic procedure. Their board of education is appointed not elected," Chambers said. "The network chief is claiming that the new person won't have any power but the assistant principals will. We want that in writing."
Chambers told DNAinfo that CPS had changed its message since the last meeting once they saw how involved the community has been.
"The last time they [CPS officials] came, they said the process would take about 100 days. Now they are saying we could get something done by the end of July," Chambers said. "You see how a strong community can get them to change their tune."
Martha Arriaga, a Saucedo LSC member, says that CPS officials being transparent about the interim principal search is good for everyone involved.
"I was happy that she was open minded. She explained a lot of things that we didn't know," Arriaga said. "But it is good that our two assistant principals will still be here. I'm going to make sure she [Garcia-Sanchez] is going to keep her word. An extra person can be good for the school."
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