Shy Arts staff and students warn board that proposed schedule and hires could 'strip away' arts model

A chorus of students, teachers and alumni from the Chicago High School for the Arts (Shy Arts) told the board on April 23 they fear recent proposals will erode the school’s pre‑professional arts model.

Students described the school’s block schedule and conservatory structure as essential for rigorous arts training. “To ask Shy Arts to lessen or spread out its arts scheduling is to ask it to downgrade from a pre‑professional training,” student Gray Synindako said.

Faculty and staff testified that proposed schedules and staffing plans would cut both academic electives (AP psychology, ethnic studies) and arts conservatory time, and that counseling and office staff had already been replaced. Math teacher Megan Riley told the board she hears students asking whether there will be calculus next year and said instructors do not yet know which courses or teachers will remain.

Shy Arts faculty member Christian Swan and computer science teacher Andrew Rogers argued the changes would degrade both arts instruction and complementary academic offerings that keep families enrolled. “This school could be a national model,” Rogers said, urging the board to fund and staff the program to match that promise.

Several board members acknowledged the community’s concerns and asked district staff to continue working with the school to seek a stable solution; the board did not take a separate binding vote on Shy Arts program changes at the meeting.

What’s next: District officials said they would continue engagement with the Shy Arts community and requested more detail on staffing and schedule proposals before any final decisions.