CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Urban Prep had long been touted as a success story for young, Black men.
Then came allegations of sexual misconduct against the schools' founder and reports of financial irregularities. Chicago Public Schools moved to revoke the charters of the Englewood and Bronzeville campuses. Urban Prep appealed to the Illinois Board of Education.
“We have read all of the stories and lived through the tragedies of young, Black lives being ended due to gun violence,” said Troy Boyd Jr., Urban Prep’s chief operating officer. “High quality education, social [and] emotional support, and institutions intentionally created for Black boys, like Urban Prep, [are] what can change the tide.”
On Wednesday Boyd addressed the state board and asked members to show “strength and commitment” to “all the children who deserve the choice to grow up to be Urban Prep men.” The board ultimately voted to deny Urban Prep’s appeal. As a result, CPS will take control of the school’s Bronzeville and Englewood campuses.
Prior to the vote, Illinois Education Board member Donna Leak said she understood the seriousness of the allegations Urban Prep faced. However, she called those issues “adult decisions” that now impacted the young men at Urban Prep schools.
“Understanding the lives we are impacting today, I cannot vote to close this opportunity for those young men,” Leak said.
Leak abstained, as did one other board member, and the final vote was 4-0 in favor of CPS. Illinois Board of Education Chair Steven Isoye made a statement after the board’s vote.
“Urban Prep does not meet the standard for us to grant the appeal,” Isoye said. “I know that’s not what many of you were hoping to hear, but I'm confident that each of you, as students, will continue to have an extremely bright future.”
In his comments to the board, Boyd said revoking Urban Prep’s charter moved the needle in the wrong direction for Black boys in Chicago.
“Even before this weekend's unfortunate events in downtown Chicago and at the Oakwood Beach on the South Side of Chicago, it was painfully clear that our city, state and country should be expanding opportunities available to Black boys and young men, not limiting them by closing the schools that have specifically served them well,” he told state officials.
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