Construction is underway on a new six-room annex at Prussing Elementary School in Jefferson Park, part of a $36 million effort to ease crowding at schools throughout the 45th Ward.
The Prussing project also includes renovation of the main building and a turf field, and is expected to be completed by the fall, Ald. John Arena said. The work is expected to cost $24 million.
Prussing’s students represent 36 countries and speak 27 languages, and more than 63 percent qualify as low-income based on federal standards.
In all, Chicago Public Schools officials have announced plans to build two annexes, an early childhood center and a new high school on the Far Northwest Side, where schools are among the most crowded in the city.
About 65 percent of the area’s elementary schools are at or above capacity, according to the most recent space-use data released by Chicago Public Schools. That includes four schools considered overcrowded, according to the data.
Ebinger Elementary School — where 832 students study in a building meant to hold 600
— is the most crowded elementary school in Chicago. Permits were recently issued to build a 13-classroom annex that parents have been seeking for more than five years.
In addition, construction is underway on an annex at Bridge Elementary School in Dunning, which is expected to open in September.
Chicago Public Schools officials have announced no plans to address the crowding at three elementary schools, each with about 20 percent more students than the\ buildings’ ideal capacity: Dirksen Elementary School in Norwood Park as well as Farnsworth Elementary School and Garvy Elementary School in Jefferson Park.
If not for mobile classrooms and rented space, seven more Far Northwest Side schools would be considered overcrowded by Chicago Public Schools: Bridge, Dever, Gray, Hitch, Prussing, Reinberg and Smyser.
New annexes have opened since 2014 at four elementary schools: Edison Park, Canty, Wildwood and Oriole Park.
The new construction is being paid for with a property tax hike of $45 million approved by the Chicago City Council in 2015 and earmarked for projects designed to relieve crowding in schools where students study in hallways and closets.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has repeatedly said CPS must address overcrowding “to ensure our students will live up to their full potential” and said it is unacceptable for students to be forced to study in hallways and closets.
