The Chicago Board of Education has decided to lease the building at 2510 W. Cortez St., which houses Acero Santiago charter school in West Town, instead of allowing it to be sold. The building is owned by the Archdiocese of Chicago, which had listed it for sale last July.
Last week, the board approved adding this property and four other buildings used by Acero charter schools to its master lease agreement with the archdiocese. This decision comes after the board previously took over these schools to prevent their closure.
Chicago Public Schools plans to transition five Acero schools — De las Casas, Cisneros, Fuentes, Octavio Paz, and Santiago — into district-run schools by the 2026-27 academic year.
Reyna Rodriguez, a parent at Santiago who advocated for keeping the building under CPS control, said during a press conference Monday: “I’m not gonna lie, this past year, especially the last six months, have been so scary because we knew that the CPS board members wanted to save us, but then we didn’t know if we’re going to have a building. It feels like a dream.”
Elected board member Carlos Rivas stated at the same press conference that CPS will lease the Santiago building for at least ten years as part of this agreement.
The arrangement marks another step in CPS’ ongoing process of taking over several charter schools amid broader financial challenges and closures within Chicago’s charter sector.
Yasmin Quiroz, spokesperson for the archdiocese, explained that while they initially planned to sell after facing potential closure last year, they reversed course when “CPS expressed its desire to retain the school.” Quiroz said: “In recognition of the important service the school provides to the local neighborhood, the parish decided to retain the building and lease it to CPS rather than sell it.”
The overall cost of CPS’s master lease with the archdiocese will rise by about $2 million due to including these additional properties. The total expense is expected to reach roughly $7 million in the next fiscal year.
Rivas noted he began advocating for retaining ownership after learning unexpectedly about its sale listing price of $6.75 million. Parents and teachers held a press conference on Santiago’s first day of school urging CPS intervention.
Both Rivas and Alderman Gilbert Villegas highlighted that continued advocacy from parents and an agreement allowing separate sale of a church building on site were key factors in negotiations with the archdiocese.
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