Residents of University Park will stage a press conference in front of Coretta Scott King Magnet Elementary School (1009 Blackhawk Drive) in University Park on Wednesday, July 18th, 2018.rally in protest to the District 201U School Board’s passing of a Facility Management Plan that would close the Coretta Scott King Magnet in University Park, Talala Elementary school in Park Forest, IL and bus elementary students outside the Village, where currently 60% of students are being bused to the Crete-Monee High School. The plan will also require a 200 million dollar tax to be levied on residents of Monee Township, and cause an unbearable tax burden to residents for the next 20 years.
Coretta Scott King Magnet School has historical significance as the first International Baccalaureate middle school in the State of Illinois.
There will be a protest rally will be held at the Crete-Monee High School located at 1515 W. Exchange in Crete, IL at 5:00pm.
A press conference will be held outside Coretta Scott King Magnet School w/ the Rainbow PUSH Coalition on Wednesday July 18, 2018 at 11:00am.
The Crete Monee High School is a part of the Board of Education School District 201-U that has been under Consent Decree since 1998 for “establish(ing), maintain(ing) and enforc(ing) attendance units, attendance policies and practices, and a one-way busing scheme which as had a disparate impact upon African-American community of University Park.’ http://www.cm201u.org/index.aspx?NID=4146
At their September 17, 2017 School Board meeting District 201U profiled and targeted “all renters /lease holders, 3rd party residents (students living with other residents) and homeless students” in a residency investigation conducted by National Investigations, a private investigations agency specializing in school residency, contracted at a cost to taxpayers of over 40-Thousand dollars. The candidates identified using this search criteria were Black. The private investigations targeted minors without the permission of their parents with concentrated surveillance and home inspections
On June 6th, 2017 the Crete Monee High School received national attention when a 17-year old high school student posted a picture of himself on Instagram dressed in a KKK hood with a racist caption that said: “3 k’s a day keeps the n—gers way.”http://abc7chicago.com/news/crete-monee-hs-student-disciplined-for-racist-instagram/2068938/
The Crete-Monee School Board also voted to terminate their African American Superintendent Dr. Nathaniel Cunningham Jr. at a Special School Board Meeting on Thursday, October 19, 2017 after they placed him on administrative leave pending termination Sept. 19, 2017
Dr. Cunningham’s termination was part of several other actions taken against minority faculty in the Crete Monee School District that included the recent termination of a Black wrestling coach, and the forced the resignations of the Black high school principal and district manager, despite their sterling performance records.
