Overview
- The board ended ChiArts’ contract and kept the campus open as a district-run fine arts school with $1.5 million approved for the transition.
- An amendment commits CPS to preserve ChiArts’ conservatory to the greatest extent practicable and to pursue outside support, with funding options to be revisited by January after community engagement.
- The board voted to wind down EPIC Academy at year’s end and approved $1.4 million so the charter can operate through the remainder of the school year.
- EPIC students must be offered enrollment at a district-run school next year and qualified EPIC staff will be offered job opportunities at receiving schools, after the board removed a proposed requirement that students transfer to a high-performing school.
- ChiArts serves roughly 559 auditioned students across five arts disciplines, while EPIC enrolls about 244 mostly Black students, and both decisions followed public testimony urging clarity on program continuity and staffing.