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AUSTIN WEEKLY news ■
New affordable housing units cropping up on West Side,
Vol. 31 No. 12
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March 15, 2017
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austinweeklynews.com
@AustinWeeklyChi
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Also serving Garfield Park
PAGE 8
Meet Sandra Harrison, page 3
Douglass High could close, barring enrollment boost Local politicians nonetheless expressed support for performing arts designation By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter
Two Austin aldermen expressed their support for Douglass Academy High School’s effort to become a performing arts school, even as the school’s declining enrollment threatens the its ability to stay open. Douglass staff, parents and Local School Council members have been hoping to acquire a performing arts designation for Douglass — a designation that’s similar to Washington Park’s Dyett High School. During a March 7, community meeting held inside Douglass’s cafeteria, Aldermen Chris Taliaferro (29th) and Emma Mitts (37th), whose wards make up most of Austin, said that they would do whatever they can to ensure that the school secures the designation. Many people who attended the meeting, however, expressed concern about factors that might deter students from choosing to attend Douglass, which could close if at least 100 freshmen don’t enroll for the upcoming fall semester. Declining enrollment at Douglass has been an ongoing issue in recent years. According to Chicago Public Schools data, the school currently See DOUGLASS HIGH on page 4
WILLIAM CAMARGO/Staff Photographer
CROSS CURRENTS: Students in Oak Park and River Forest High School’s theater program during rehearsals for ‘Crossing Austin Boulevard,’ a play that dramatizes the history of the racial dynamics of that historic street.
Student play explores Austin Blvd.’s divide ‘Crossing Austin Boulevard’ delves deep into charged racial histories
By TERRY DEAN AustinTalks
Austin Boulevard’s dividing line between Oak Park and Chicago’s West Side is the subject of a new play debuting this month at the neighboring suburb’s high school. Students at Oak Park and River Forest High School will debut “Crossing Austin Boulevard” March 17-20. The students and their teacher, Avi Lessing, have been in rehearsals for the last month.
The play features both acted-out scenes and monologues, with a focus on Oak Park’s housing integration efforts beginning in the early 1970s. The play will also look at how street boundaries like Austin Boulevard keep communities separate rather than bring people together. “The students have become really interested in telling that story,” Lessing said during an afternoon rehearsal at OPRF. About two-dozen students are involved as actors, writers, set designers and marketing the production.
Incorporated in 1902, Oak Park began a concerted effort to promote integration through fair housing programs in the late 1960s and early 1970s. “As a teacher, I didn’t know about Oak Park’s intent at integration and the Oak Park Housing Center,” said Lessing, who’s taught English at the high school since 2003 and been its theater director since 2005. “When we talk about borders – those inSee CROSSING AUSTIN on page 6
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