Science labs, sports complex, new high school in CPS budget plan

A new $8.4 billion budget proposed Monday by Chicago Public Schools officials includes millions for renovated high school science labs, a new Near South Side high school and a South Side sports complex.

The spending plan also devotes more money to improving school building access for the disabled and sets aside another $75 million for the district’s response to the coronavirus, with significant assumptions that more federal funding is on the way.

The budget, which comes during a period of financial uncertainty due to the coronavirus pandemic and on the heals of a massive new labor contract with the Chicago Teachers Union, is $700 million larger than last year’s, which at the time was the most expensive in CPS history.

In all, CPS is investing $653 million in building improvements and special projects at more than 250 schools, with priority given to under-resourced communities, the district said. A little more than $300 million is going to neighborhood schools for infrastructure repairs, including $9 million for renovated bathrooms, which will be prioritized this year.

About $20 million will go toward ADA accessibility at 36 schools, CPS said, with another $80 million promised in the next five years to make the first floor of every school accessible to those with disabilities.

The science lab initiative includes $30 million for 31 schools, rounding out a $78 million investment that started two years ago to build modern labs at 75 high schools.

Plans will also take shape for a new $50 million sports complex on the South Side, the district said. A location is still being finalized and input will be taken from the community on programming and sports offerings. Close by on the Near South Side, another $50 million is included for a new Chinatown high school that the state Legislature allocated money for in the spring. Community meetings will be held this year to start that process.

The $75 million budgeted for pandemic response is separate from the $75 million in emergency spending approved by the Board of Education in the spring. Those previous expenses will be covered by $206 million the district is set to receive from the federal CARES Act that was passed in the spring, with $78 million going toward last year’s coronavirus-related expenses and $128 million going to the new fiscal year.

The district’s new budget relies on $343 million in additional federal funding — aside from the CARES Act — to help ease the burden of COVID-19 expenses and revenue shortfalls. Officials said that amount is a safe assumption and comes in less than the figure CPS would receive in the most conservative congressional plan.