BEVERLY — A special meeting meant to discuss a proposed merger of Sutherland and Kellogg elementary schools will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Sutherland.
Laurie DelFavero, chairwoman of the Local School Council, called the meeting at the school at 10015 S. Leavitt St., according to a post on the school's Facebook site. The meeting is also advertised elsewhere online.
The meeting follows a sweeping school restructuring plan for the 19th Ward proposed Tuesday by Ald. Matt O'Shea. Perhaps the biggest shift is the merger of Sutherland and nearby Kate S. Kellogg Elementary School.
A meeting held Tuesday evening in Kellogg's gymnasium at 9241 S. Leavitt St. in Beverly was feverish, as parents, teachers and students voiced strong objections to the plan authored by O'Shea and state Sen. Bill Cunningham (D-Chicago).
O'Shea and Cunningham claim both public schools are suffering from declining enrollment, as neighborhood residents are sending their children elsewhere. To make up for these losses, students living outside of the school boundaries are being used to fill out the rosters and thus maintain funding levels.
Their proposal would concentrate the local public school students in Beverly into one school on Sutherland's campus. Presumably, this would leave fewer slots for others outside of the area, which several Kellogg parents took issue with Tuesday.
The building vacated by the proposed merger would become the new home to the Keller Regional Gifted Center. The magnet school at 3020 W 108th St. in Mount Greenwood would benefit by having more room for its students in the larger building, O'Shea said.
The Keller building would then be handed over to Mount Greenwood Elementary School, which is just 3½ blocks away at 10841 S. Homan Ave. This school continues to experience overcrowding and adding the nearby school would allow administrators to operate from two campuses, he said.
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