Cops surrounding and blocking Whittier school sit in

[Orlando Sepulveda]

Compañero/as: Yesterday, parents of Whittier elementary school occupied a fieldhouse that was ging to be demolished by the city (see email below). Today, police surrounded and blocked access to school, cutting them off to outside help, and pressumibly preparing to storm in. Companeros on the ground there are calling on everybody available to go down to Whittier to protest police action and defend the Whittier parents and students. Orlando   CORE Folks, The parents at my school -- Whittier Elementary on 23rd & Wolcott -- have decided to camp out in their field house to save it from a planned demolition on Friday morning. I got the word this afternoon. Gema Gaete (formerly of Pilsen Alliance) has organized about half-a-dozen to a dozen families to bed down in the field house of the school in its defense. The issue arose last year, as the school and its families were organizing to win money for school renovation. Families had been meeting and planning in the old, dilapidated field house for years. Community school classes and other family events took place there, as well. In a fabled meeting last year, families presented Schools CEO Ron Huberman with plans for renovation -- including specific demands for a library (the school has none), changes to the gymnasium, improved computers and a number of other needs. Those needs included repairs to the old field house. As parents presented their plans, a mouse scurried along a bookshelf right near Huberman, startling everyone in attendance. After years of protests and confrontations, Alderman Danny Solis finally pledged $1.3 million for renovations to the school (including a new computer room). The catch, though, when the plans were finally brought to parents was that the field house would be torn down rather than renovated. Its 1,000 sq. ft. would be replaced by a large storage closet inside the school converted to a "parent room". Parents were furious. Parents, led by Gema Gaete, continued to protest at the Chicago Board of Education meetings -- coming out in solidarity with CTU members and CORE. This summer, CPS made a number of (relatively minor) renovations to the main building. They announced that this Friday (September 17) they would demolish the building. Today, Wednesday, parents took over the field house and have plans to camp out there and to confront bulldozers on Friday morning. There will be parents there 24/7. I hope we can send people out (maybe with food or blankets) to visit with the (largely, but not solely, Spanish-speaking) parents and students. I went there tonight and spirits are pretty high -- although the news is not covering the story. Perhaps interest will pick up as the planned confrontation between CPS and the families draws near. --Nate