Chicago school district seeks $14 billion for renovations despite many schools at less than 50% capacity

Chicago Public Schools is seeking over $14 billion to “modernize” its facilities, despite many of its schools at less than 50% capacity, Wirepoints reported this month.

There are 522 public school buildings in the district, including 473 traditional schools. Wirepoints noted that over one-third of the city’s schools are at less than 50% capacity and only 122 district schools are at 80% capacity or more.

The district released its 2023 Chicago Public Schools Educational Facilities Master Plan this month to serve as the “basis for the District’s upcoming five-year strategic plan.” The report claimed that its school buildings are old and in need of repair and estimated that CPS requires $14.4 billion for renovation, $3 billion of which is needed urgently.

“This document includes,” the report stated, “a full accounting of our District’s total facility needs, which total $14.4 billion. In a district as large as ours, and with a building portfolio as old as ours, this is the investment it would take to repair and modernize each and every one of our current facilities and give our students the learning environment we know they deserve.”

The district’s CEO, Pedro Martinez, explained that the school system plans to upgrade its facilities to provide “21st century academic programming” and equip schools “with state-of-the-art labs to support STEM education, specialized classrooms outfitted for Career and Technical Education, accommodations that will allow our diverse learners to thrive, new auditoriums for our performing arts, and new fields for athletics.”

CPS argued that the upgrades would create an “equitable, quality” learning environment for students. The district also claimed the renovations would “save our city money in the long run by eliminating the extra costs of rushing from emergency repair to emergency repair.” Additionally, CPS aims to renovate its facilities to be “more sustainable” and “reduce our carbon footprint.”

The district’s capital funding is primarily allocated for “emergency short-term patches” instead of students’ academic needs, the district stated.

“CPS’ facility portfolio is one of the country’s largest, and the building needs backlog is significant,” it noted. “As of December 2022, CPS’ total assessed need is $14.4 billion, with over $3 billion in critical system needs that must be addressed within the next five years.”

Approximately $1 billion of the renovation budget is earmarked for 20 schools that are 5%-25% full, Wirepoints noted. Of those educational institutions, on average, only 8% of students were reading at grade level in 2022, the outlet reported.

The district plans to spend $35 million on renovations for Douglas High School, an institution that can enroll 900 students but that only 34 currently attend. Wirepoints reported that no students at the school were reading at grade level last year. Similarly, Manley High School currently enrolls just 70 students but has the capacity to serve 1,296. CPS aims to spend more than $82 million upgrading the facilities.

In the past two decades, student enrollment in Chicago schools has dropped roughly 27%.

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