HYDE PARK — Chicago Public Schools is calling off cuts to Bret Harte Elementary School’s special education preschool program for a year.
Parents, teachers and administrators were told at the beginning of June that the program would be cut because of low enrollment, but CPS reversed course Monday after parents complained that something was wrong with the systems that refer special education students to the preschool program.
Bret Harte parent Heather La Riviere said she got a call late Monday night from the office of Janice Jackson, chief education officer for CPS, to tell her that the special education classroom her daughter Rose will remain at Bret Harte for at least the next year.
She said she is relieved the program will stay and is hopeful that CPS will find out why enrollment in the the program has dropped to just her daughter for next year while other nearby programs remain well attended.
“I think they’re going to find something in the system is routing kids away from Bret Harte,” La Riviere said.
Principal Shenethe Parks said she got a similar call and said she’s looking forward to working with CPS to figure out why the special education students that normally attend the program have been routed elsewhere.
"CPS is committed to providing all of its students with a quality education and meeting the needs of diverse learners in every Chicago neighborhood," said Michael Passman, a spokesman for CPS. "Following a review of the school's enrollment projections and a consultation with the Harte administration and school community, CPS determined that a need exists for the early childhood instructional classroom at Harte."
Unfortunately, La Riviere’s daughter will still have to navigate some transitions since her teacher, Juliette Friel, accepted a job at another school over the weekend.
Friel said Parks offered to let her stay, but she said she wanted to be fair to her new employer and was comfortable with Ms. Johnson, a special education teacher who’s been at Bret Harte for three years taking over. She said she will miss supporting the parents and students though.
“You become a lot closer with your parents, they really lean on you,” Friel said.
La Riviere said CPS has asked her to be on a new parent advisory council for the program and she’s hopeful they will be able to figure out why students stopped being referred to Bret Harte and the program can again become permanent at the end of next year.
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