On the surface this appears to be a story about a 4 1/2-foot-high fence. And it would be a story solely about a 4 1/2-foot-high fence if the fence weren’t being erected for a public elementary school that’s tucked inside an affluent cul-de-sac in the South Loop. Here, a mote of resentment has long flowed between a faction of the residents and the school folks.
First, the back story: Dearborn Park II is a leafy, walled-off cul-de-sac of pricey homes and town homes designed to give the illusion of suburban living. The development, completed in the mid-1990s with one entrance and exit, was to have its own school, South Loop Elementary.
But when residents learned that children from the nearby public housing project were to be bused in, the illusion faded. At the time, Dearborn Park II was a predominately white community, but there were some African-Americans too. Many of the residents opted for private schooling for a number of reasons, not the least of which was that South Loop Elementary was an academic mess.
In 2002, Patrick Baccellieri was hired as the school’s principal. Before his arrival, the school had shuffled through six principals in four years. The school was on the state’s watch list, facing closure.
In four years, student achievement at the 485-pupil school has soared from 31 percent to 81 percent of pupils meeting and exceeding state standards, Baccellieri said.
“We started some rigorous work around reading and math and emphasized a school culture that’s conducive to strong academic achievement,” he said.
The racial and socioeconomic makeup of the school also changed, in part because nearby housing projects were demolished and the school has wide attendance boundaries. Also, some Dearborn Park II children–now an even more racially diverse group–attend the school.
Instead of the school being all black, it’s now about 60 percent black, 20 percent white, 10 percent Asian and 10 percent Hispanic.
So the school has changed, right? But among a small but angry knot of older residents–some call them the CAVE people, for Citizens Against Virtually Everything–there’s still a lot of resentment.
Here’s where the fence comes in. For safety reasons, the majority of pupils does not go outside for recess because there’s no fence around the rectangular park adjacent to the school at 1212 S. Plymouth Ct. The small park runs to 13th Street on the south and is bounded by Plymouth Court on the east and Federal Street on the west. The school is its northern boundary. The fence would run along the perimeter of the park with several openings.
This summer, Baccellieri called Chicago Public Schools about erecting a fence. The school district called the Park District. In mid-September a crew came out and started drilling holes for fence posts. A group of neighbors got wind of it. They called Ald. Madeline Haithcock (2nd) and the police. Construction was stopped. The school district , it turns out, may not have had the proper permits.
On Sept. 28, the school district called a community meeting. More than 170 people attended. Baccellieri said the biggest concern of most residents was that they weren’t notified. (Around the city, residents normally aren’t notified when a fence goes up in a public park.) Residents also worried that they wouldn’t have unfettered access to the park. One woman feared her dog wouldn’t have unfettered access. Another worried that the fence would rust, becoming an eyesore.
A few residents complained that the fence would give the community a “penal” look, until they were reminded that Dearborn Park II already is surrounded in places by a tall fence that even has spikes. Most of the residents also have gated yards. At a separate meeting, a woman said pupils would kick up the soil.
The school set out to erase concerns. There would be two large openings at 13th Street. The two 10-foot-wide gates at the north end wouldn’t be locked. The fence would be properly maintained and pupils wouldn’t kick up any more dirt than what’s already being kicked up by area youngsters.
Haithcock said she’s grown weary of the bickering.
“The school [system] started this and now they have to do something,” Haithcock told me.
She said she ran into Mayor Richard Daley and asked for his advice.
“He said, `What about a retractable fence?’ That’s an idea, but it’s up to the school [system] and the Park District. I’m not in it.”
Not in it? The alderman?
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You’re thinking: So what about the safety of the children, right? School district officials say they soon will make a decision on whether to continue erecting the fence. Complicating this, some Dearborn Park II parents whose children attend South Loop are for the fence and some are not. Beyond them, other residents who don’t want it are digging in for a fight.
Now I ask you: Could this be a bigger mess? Whoever said fences made good neighbors certainly didn’t know this lot.
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