The Full Proposal
The downtown parent community is confronting an issue of development resulting in an enrollment that
exceeds the school’s capacity. Current enrollment is at 103% and it is projected to increase.
The following is an alternate proposal. It may seem different than the Jenner proposal and it is, but
technically it is similar with a very different outcome.
 Rather than divide the existing educational system into three campuses, this proposal will consider
dedicating resources to each of two communities such that all the objectives of the Jenner proposal are
met with the same demographics and the same educational objectives, but each school will host K-8
for their respective communities and feed into the West Campus.
In short, we will apply a universal principle recognized across all communities throughout the US:
 Communities send their children to the closest community school in their district.
Let us, as such, call this a Community Proposal. That is, the only discerning element between the two
proposals should be a focus on increasing the community element and at the same time meeting all the
needs of the entire community.
As any community grows, it follows that the best way to dedicate resources and achieve the highest level
of educational standard is to focus those resources at a community level. When the resources of the
current schools (one or both) have exceeded levels considered acceptable, then one of these proposals
may be considered. Let’s define the proposals at hand:
Jenner Proposal
 Students from a single district running roughly from the Chicago River to North Avenue will attend Ogden
grades K-3, then Jenner grades 4-8 and then the West Campus, grades 9-12.
 Commute times will be a function of the district size and more pronounced when public transportation is
used.
 Some school resources will be replicated across the three schools, such as computer labs, art, music and
special learning rooms.
 School provided transportation may need to address the needs of three locations.
The Community Proposal
 Students from a district roughly half the size of the Jenner proposal will attend Ogden grades K-8 and then
they will attend the West Campus, grades 9-12.
 Students from roughly half the district will also attend Jenner, grades K-8 and then they will attend the
West Campus, grades 9-12.
 Commute times will be less than the Jenner proposal with a total distance travelled up to half.
 Some school resources will be replicated across two, instead of three schools, such as labs, art, music and
special learning rooms.
 School provided transportation may need to address the needs of two locations.
Some very important guidelines should be noted and apply to both proposals:
 It may not definitively be said that a change is needed in the existing school district boundaries today,
only that attendance requirements be enforced in the next school year and that reaching an equally
distributed population may and will likely require new district boundaries in the future.
 It may not definitively be said that any change in district boundaries would start from where they are and
get smaller or larger. To achieve a balanced demographic it may be necessary to expand a boundary
on one front while reducing a boundary on another front. Students at both schools may find
themselves at the other.
 It may not definitively be said that one school has a benefit over the other. The goal is that the new
boundary should make each school equally desirable.
 It may not definitively be said that the resulting communities will have any difference in demographics or
educational standards. But, it is absolutely understood that each proposal endeavors a school system
with similar demographics and educational standards and that this will be achieved by adjusting district
boundaries.
 It may not definitively be said that either proposal must occur on a specified date or school year. It may
be said that when educational standards are no longer being maintained according to acceptable
levels, then the parents will desire to have a proposal ready that has been sufficiently researched and
understood as the agreed upon solution. In short, a long-standing social contract should exist between
school leaders and the community as to what conditions should define a need for action and what that
action should be.
 It may not definitively be said that either school has a disadvantage in expansion with new
facilities. Jenner has additional ground space where TIF funds may be used to build new
facilities. Ogden has allocated space at Lakeshore East where TIF funds may be used to build out new
facilities, facilities that already have funds allocated by the developer of the community for the school’s
infrastructure.
To emphasize once again, neither proposal is desired at this time. We the community are establishing a
social contract with our school leaders. With that contract a preferred path for the future of our community
is to be identified and agreed upon when educational resources reach unacceptable limits.
Not everything in the list below may be considered by all an advantage, but generally speaking The
Community Proposal has the following merits:
 Ogden increases the number of grades resident to its facilities
 Jenner increases its student body to more efficiently utilize its facilities
 Both schools obtain equally diverse academic and demographic student populations
 Both schools maintain a two-school system which provides room for expansion as our communities grow
 Both schools have allocated land and resources for expansion of facilities
 Students and parents are subjected to the least amount of change in the long-term planning of their
child’s education
 Commute times are reduced for both communities
 Each school maintains the most efficient use of school resources, computer labs, art, music and special
learning rooms
 Both schools benefit from a two-campus transportation responsibility with smaller territories
 Both schools benefit from an increase in community focus where both the parents and the schools share
and address the unique needs of their immediate community.
 Long-term development of the Lakeshore East campus may allow both schools to maintain a two campus
environment, K-12 respective to their communities again with the least amount of change to the
existing K-8 student bodies
 CPS conserves money with more efficient use of school management, facilities and transportation
resources