BOARDWATCH: Bowen HS co-location scheme erased Bowen's name from its own marquee...!
David Vance speaking during the May 25, 2016 meeting of the Chicago Board of Education. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.[Editor's Note. The following remarks were prepared for delivery to the Chicago Board of Education's May 25, 2016 meeting by David Vance, who does photography for Substance and Labor Beat and is also an LSC member at Bowen. They were provided to us by the speaker and are reprinted here as he provided them to Substance for publication. George N. Schmidt, Editor, Substance
Good Morning Board members, I am David Vance.
Bowen High School has no marquee. We need a lighted marquee.
Three years ago we had a marquee with our name on it . . . what happened?
Three years ago Barbara Byrd Bennett was the CEO. She had the power to close 50 schools and create a dozen charter schools; some of them were co-sharing charter schools.
We lost our new annex building to a “cosharing” charter school. Our Bowen marquee was in front of the annex building.
Noble was given three “cosharing” charter schools. At Bowen, they named their new school, Baker. They took Bowen off and put Baker on the marquee.
The community has been confused. Many people thought Bowen changed its name.
Board members should know that Bowen is the historic high school of South Chicago with a 100 year history. Our mascot is a boilermaker because it symbolized the steelworker roots of the school.
We need a lighted marquee to maintain our identity. It is not a frill.
We need a marquee to welcome our students in the fall of 2016. We need a marquee to announce our school activities. We need a marquee to correct the perception that Bowen changed its name.
The Chicago Board of Education's chief lawyer, Ronald Marmer (above right) found more interesting things to do while David Vance was telling the Board about one of Chicago's once premier general high schools. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.Conclusion – I know Mr. Claypool from your reports there is no money. So I want to suggest we ask Barbara Byrd Bennett for restitution. (Can someone tell us what has happened to her case?) She was supposed to pay restitution . . . am I correct? She stole millions correct?
We want a small sliver of this restitution payment to go for our lighted marquee.
Board members, is this too much to ask? We want restitution for the harm created by BB Bennett. We want a marquee like all other high schools have. We want restitution for a marquee. I request a meeting with your Inspector General Nicholas Schuler. Do you think he can get this process going?
Sincerely Yours,, David Vance, Bowen High School, Local School Council Community Representative
