Neighborhood News

Published May 31, 2019 By Justin Kerr

"Namaste is not closing at the end of this school year," said Namaste Charter School Board Chair Cathy Calhoun in response to a press release issued earlier this week by the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). "The CTU's claims about our school closing are not accurate."

As previously reported here in the McKinley Park News, the CTU's press release stated that threats to close the school surfaced during negotiations surrounding unionization of the school's teachers and staff. However, no such threat was made, and the CTU is instead misconstruing a discussion about Namaste's financial trajectory "to have an upper hand at the bargaining table," said Vanessa Acuna, Namaste's dean of students.

Acuna, who said she wished to share her opinions as a private individual and not as a spokesperson for Namaste, touched on the emotions and rancor surrounding the unionization process, which was approved by a very close vote, she said. "Many of our staff members are operating within unresolved pain and anger."

Acuna noted her understanding of the discussions, which included prospective talk of the possibility of a future school shutdown "if trajectory were not to change," she said. "That's totally different than saying [unionizers] were threatened. That's not accurate."

Calhoun said no shutdown prospects for Namaste are on the horizon. "To the contrary, the board and leadership team are focused on successfully finishing out this year and busily planning for school year 2019-20."

"Seeing this press release was alarming," Acuna said, calling it a tactic to "spread fear and make assumptions about our leaders."

The next Namaste Charter School Board Meeting is slated for 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 11, at the school, 3737 S. Paulina St., Chicago.