Chicago Board of Education meets for 1st time since Mayor Johnson's appointments

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The new Chicago Board of Education met publicly for their first time Thursday.

After new Board of Education President Rev. Mitchell Johnson gaveled in the meeting, each of the seven members introduced themselves, shared their connection to Chicago Public Schools and why they want ot serve.

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"What I bring to the board will be calm and I want to make sure we stay focused on the work," said Michilla Blaise.

One member became emotional when talking about a student who recently died of an asthma attack at her local neighborhood school.

All share Mayor Brandon Johnson's vision to bring equity to CPS.

"This is a moment in time we cannot afford to squander," said Rev. Johnson.

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Johnson used his preacher skills to drive home his alignment with the mayor and his goal of transforming CPS.

"In fact, Mayor Johnson is the only mayor in the history of Chicago with firsthand experience in Chicago Public Schools," he said.

Thursday is an agenda review committee meeting, which allows members to look at district proposals and contracts before the next full board meeting next Friday.

The new board will soon get to work on addressing the district's budget, the Chicago Teachers Union contract and decide CPS CEO Pedro Martinez's fate. The CPS budget and Martinez's future, however, are not on Thursday's agenda.

Rev. Johnson did not mention a $300 million short-term high interest loan the mayor asked Martinez and the previous school board to support, however, the new school board president did praise Johnson for going above and beyond with TIF funding and the need for CPS to take care of pensions.

The previous board members, also appointed by the mayor, stepped down earlier this month after refusing to remove Martinez as CEO and approve a short-term, high-interest loan for the school district.

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It's unclear how many of the seven will remain on the board come January, when the new 21-member partially appointed, partially elected school board will be seated.