ASPIRA charter schools board votes to close Haugan Middle School on Northwest Side

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Parents of students at a charter school on the city's Northwest Side are fighting its closure.

School leaders voted Wednesday to close the ASPIRA Haugan Middle School because of insufficient funding.

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Dozens of parents and teachers made their plea to the ASPIRA board of directors Wednesday night, trying to keep the charter school open.

In the end, the decision came down to financials, and Haugan Middle School will now be closing after this school year.

"We tried everything," ASPIRA board of directors president Edgar Lopez said.

The president of ASPIRA was visibly shaken as the board of directors voted unanimously to shut down Haugan Middle School.

"Unless something changes in Chicago and CPS, this isn't gonna be the last charter school to close," Lopez said.

The charter school is funded by CPS. Enrollment was once as high as 800 but has recently fallen to 83. The ASPIRA board of directors said that is a factor in the decision, along with not receiving enough funding from CPS.

Teachers and parents at Haugan Middle School say they feel abandoned as they believe the community has grown into a family.

"My kid comes from a previous school where she got bullied. It was horrible," parent Oyuki Hernandez said. "When she want to ASPIRA, all that changed. She ended up getting friends, and the teachers care about my daughter, and not just her, but me too."

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"We're a family that's being disbanded," teacher Lori Cannella said. "We see these kids who are told, 'you will never be anything,' and they come back and say, 'I'm somebody because of you.'"

The school is expected to shut down June 30.

CPS did not respond to ABC7's request for comment Wednesday.

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