On March 9, Mayor Richard M. Daley introduced an ordinance to the City Council to allocate approximately $18 million in TIF funds to support ADA accessibility renovations at 11 Chicago Public High Schools.
For the first year, the City and CPS committed to a total of nearly $40 million, with CPS committing to $23 million, and the City committing to $14.5 million. For each of the latter four fiscal years, CPS has committed at least $20 million annually, and the City has committed at least $5 million annually, or $20 million total. Under this ADA initiative, the City and CPS hope to renovate at least 30 schools.
Renovations generally include: adding wheelchair parking, installing ramps at building entrances, widening doorways, renovating restrooms, upgrading alarm systems, and, in some cases, installing elevators.
As a result, more youth with disabilities will be able to attend their neighborhood school, instead of being bused into unfamiliar neighborhoods, which will also serve to greatly increased access to before and after school programs near home. To that end, parents and grandparents with disabilities will also have far greater opportunities to participate in their children’s educations and recreational events.
Additionally, the renovations will allow the schools to enhance their use as community centers that can serve as polling places and emergency shelters and offer unique programming for students.
The ordinance marks the completion of a five-year, jointly funded, capital commitment, which began in 2008 to make more school buildings accessible to students, parents, employees and community members with disabilities.
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