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Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=9BMdWulRX3g

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Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We're going to start with a brief announcement from our interpreters. I am Tracy Preet from the office of facilities and capital operations. On behalf of my fellow cabinet members,

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welcome to the third FY 2027 capital hearing. Today is July 23rd, 2026. We are holding the third capital hearing electronically via Zoom and also live on CPS YouTube channel.

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The purpose of this third hearing is to comply with the school code provisions regarding the FY 27 capital budget. For the record, notice of this public hearing was published in Chicago Sun-Times, a newspaper of general circulation in the city of Chicago on

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July 15, 2026. I would also like to note for the record the CPS staff members and board members present here today. July 23rd, 2026 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30

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p.m. Charles Mayfield, chief operating officer. Ivan Hansen, chief facilities officer. Vinny Guy, executive director of capital planning and construction. Cassidy Foley, senior budget analyst,

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budget and management office. Let's begin with the FY27 capital presentation with Ivan Hanson and Vinnie Dye. >> Thank you, Tracy, and thank you all for taking the time to join us today. The objective for today's presentation is to provide an overview of the

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proposed FY27 capital budget and take feedback from stakeholders. CPS is continuing to build on the capital planning process utilized over the last few years. The process for the FY27 capital budget was officially kicked off at the beginning of this year.

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It began by meeting with individual PACs, CACs, and our LSCBs to get feedback on the information shared and also get help in getting as much engagement as possible. In the spring, various departments from CPS, including the Office of Equity, the Office of Family and Community

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Engagement, and the Department of Capital Planning and Construction, engaged with internal stakeholders. Based on this input and feedback, CPS then conducted five community engagement sessions in April. Three of these meetings were virtual and two were held in person. These sessions provided an overview of

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the CPS portfolio, our extensive critical facility needs, our opportunity index, and the various capital budget categories with clear examples of the scope of work for each category, and then our project prioritization process. The sessions were live via Zoom and also

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on YouTube, but recorded sessions are available to the public. There were many participants both virtually and in person for these community engagement sessions with active engagement and Q&A. The sessions also solicited public feedback through online surveys. We

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received over 6,600 survey responses during the capital planning development process, which is up from 5,300 responses last year. The responses prioritized critical facility needs, and that is reflected in the proposed capital budget, which allocates funds across various categories.

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The current plan is to present our recommendations to the board this July. Anchored in CPS' strategic plan, "Together We Rise", our district aims to be equitable when it comes to investing in our schools and communities. Our approach to equity centers on the

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principle of targeted universalism, where we believe that instead of giving the same amount of resources to schools with different needs, our investments must reflect the diverse needs of our students, schools, and communities. To do this, we must respect our students and families and the diverse communities

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in which they live, and include them as partners in our shared mission. >> [clears throat] >> We want to ensure we're listening to your feedback and taking that into account. We will continue to revise our processes in Chicago Public Schools. The spirit of the work that brings us here is to elevate equitable resource

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allocation. In the CPS equity framework, we define a goal of resource equity to create equitable student experiences and learning-ready environments. To do so, we must prioritize allocating people's people's time, money, and align with the levels of need and opportunity.

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Essentially, we are saying we will get behind our young people and provide the necessary resources and opportunities for them to thrive. As you know, our facility portfolio is extremely large, and our average age is 86 years old. Our oldest facility is 152,

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and we maintain over 62 million square feet. Just to put that in perspective, that is the equivalent of 14 Sears Towers. Now, the board approved a measure. Now that we've through a approved board measure, we now have five more campuses and the addition of the charter schools added to

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our portfolio. Many years of budgetary constraints have led to a large backlog of deferred needs. And our total district immediate capital need is over $3.7 billion, and that is just to bring all facilities to a state of good repair. The cost to repair CPS buildings is far

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exceeding what CPS has historically been able to afford. Because of this, prioritization of capital needs is critical, and CPS values your input during this process. We completed our most recent round of facilities condition assessments in all CPS owned and operated facilities, and

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these assessments are available on cps.edu. A few points to highlight on these assessments. The condition assessment is just a visual inspection of the building systems and is not destructive. As you can see here in the sample report, the assessments include a rank and quantity for all assessed items at each CPS

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operated facility. There's a separate landing page assessment landing page on cps.edu, which is now live, and the latest assessment report is available there. Prioritization of critical capital needs is a process that systems are dynamic and constantly changing. Systems can change significantly from

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one assessment to another, and this can be driven by a number of factors, including weather, accelerated deterioration, deferred maintenance, or recent investments. Based on our most recent assessment reports, we've updated this chart to display our repairs in these four

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categories from the entire portfolio. First is our immediate critical needs. And these repairs that need to be made right away, and these are things like roofs, windows, and heating and cooling systems. Fixing these will make our buildings more efficient, but it's a big job. The estimate is around $3.7

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billion. Then we have our longer long-term critical needs. They're the same items as above, but these repairs can wait a bit. Still really important. They cost about $6.6 billion. Then we have our ADA accessibility, which is about making sure everyone can get around our campuses more easily, and

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it's adding items like ramps and elevators so everyone can enter and access our buildings more comfortably. It's estimated to cost around $600 million. And finally, we have our facility upgrades. These are improvements that make our schools a better place to learn, and are items like painting hallways or classrooms and upgrading

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lighting to make it brighter. These changes not only make learning more enjoyable, it also saves energy. But these are big projects because these are buildings, it's going to cost more than 5.3 billion dollars. It is important to note these categories do not include any programmatic upgrades. It's only the cost to do the

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work. Our capital planning approach is outlined here. But it's important to note that the annual capital plan is based on available funding, and this can vary greatly from year to year, which makes planning extremely difficult. Our building needs are based on the most recent facilities and conditions assessments that are available on

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cps.edu. Our portfolio is very large and the backlog of needs is significant. This coupled with continued budget constraints necessitates a needs-based prioritization approach focusing on priority capital needs. And we must maintain a data-driven approach that

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allows for equitable allocation of capital funds while also aligning with the district's education goals and initiatives as outlined in the EFMP. And FY26 made enhancements to this process, and we'll continue to do so in FY27.

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There is no one-size-fits-all approach to capital planning, and we understand that our current process isn't perfect. However, CPS is committed to improving this process continuously and incorporating public feedback like these meetings today. Our approach this year follows the usual methodology for capital budget

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categories, but we're also making several process enhancements. We also remain committed to increasing transparency and public outreach. We will continue to work with our our equity and faith departments to guide us to increase community engagement in the overall capital planning process. And today is a direct result of this

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partnership. We encourage everyone today to provide comments and questions via the Google form on the FY27 capital plan website and the presentation to provide additional feedback and suggestions on how CPS can continue to advance public engagement and community outreach reach

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and regards to capital planning process. As noted before, in recent years, the district has focused on prioritizing investments that promote equitable access to high-quality learning environments. And this year we began with meeting with individual paths, CACs, and LSC AVs to get feedback on the information shared to also get help in

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getting as much engagement as possible. Additionally, an April CPS held five meetings with three being virtual and two being in-person to involve communities in discussing capital priorities for the FY27 capital planning plan. These sessions, led by the CPS capital department, the Office of

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Equity, and the Office of Family and Community Engagement, offered insights into the capital planning process and helped prioritize critical needs. Again, we received over 6,600 survey responses during the capital planning development process. These responses included a focus on facilities needs, which is reflected in

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the proposed capital budget. All the information helped guide the capital plan that Venny will now walk you through. >> Thank you, Hayden, and good afternoon to all of you. And thank you again for taking time to be present for this session of the FY27 capital planning hearings. As I have

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stated, I'm going to walk you through the FY27 proposed capital budget. The proposed FY27 capital budget for Chicago Public Schools includes a budget totaling $600.43 million of investments that will focus

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on priority facility needs at neighborhood schools. Mechanical systems that control indoor environments and air quality of our schools, ADA accessibility, restroom modernization, student recreation and athletic improvements,

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site improvements, and continued expansion of technology upgrades and other academic priorities. To support schools throughout the city, the FY27 capital plan provides funding in five main categories.

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Critical facility needs, interior improvements, problematic investments, site improvements, and IT and other technology upgrades. The CPS portfolio includes 527 campuses

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and 799 buildings. Our average facility age is over 86 years old, and the total CPS critical facility need is over 3.7 billion. Since FY16, CPS has made significant investment into capital improvements

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across the district. These projects include major renovations to ensure our schools stay warm and dry, security cameras to provide a safer environment for our children, and renovations to aid programmatic enhancements, among others.

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Additionally, CPS is continuing to invest in ADA upgrades to ensure all CPS campuses are more accessible. The FY2027 capital budget is primarily funded by future issuance of general obligation bonds, which are principally

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repaid by evidence-based funding. A portion of the FY27 budget is also funded by tax increment financing, or TIF funds, state funding, and other outside resources as they become identified.

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I'll now take a deeper dive into the budget and explain each category that makes up the $604.3 million budget. First category is facility needs. This budget includes over $340 million to address facility needs throughout the

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district. The first category you see in this section is priority exterior envelope and mechanical projects. Exterior envelope projects include repair or replacement of roofs, windows, and exterior masonry. And mechanical

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projects prioritize the most urgent upgrades to core mechanical systems. These improvements directly affect our ability to provide warm and dry facilities to our students, staff, and community. Other programs in the facility need

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category includes repairing or replacing obsolete critical systems like our fire alarm replacement program, chimney stabilization, masonry remediation, and critical temperature controls or our building automation systems.

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Also included is the emergency or unanticipated facility repair category. And this is established [clears throat] to address emergency situations that could arise from a fire, flood, or freezing, or any unforeseen facility repair that comes with an aging

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portfolio like ours. CPS will continue to incorporate sustainable material into these capital projects since our since our specifications have been modified to include these types of materials. Examples include energy efficient

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mechanical equipment, roofs with higher R-value, low volatile organic compound content paint, to name a few. Additionally, there will be a continued focus on the energy efficiency program where we are again allocating funds for

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green initiatives like those that align with the Green School Board Resolution. >> [clears throat] >> Starting in FY 2021 with the FY 2021 capital budget, CPS committed to a multi-year plan to improve accessibility

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in parking lots, main entrances, main offices, and public restrooms. We will invest about $6 million to increase in accessibility in schools across the district as part of multi-year program to ensure that all CPS campuses have

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first-floor accessibility. The next category includes over $43 million for interior improvements. Part of these interior improvements include the restroom modernization program. And this category was added in

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FY21 as a result of feedback collected during the capital community engagement process and was again a big focus of our survey this year. In this program, CPS is committed to renovating at least one male, one female, and one all-gender restroom in

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all district elementary schools. Based on public feedback, space efficiency was a new budget category added in the FY25 capital plan and one that we look to continue in FY2027. It will continue to develop deep dives

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into the building building portfolio to determine options to increase efficiencies in building operations and reduce operational costs, determine if there are building types that are no longer current or that should be demolished or replaced, as well as

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determine if there are campuses that are overcrowded with no other solutions other than a capital investment to relieve overcrowding. Public feedback to the EFMP acknowledged the underutilized and overcrowded buildings. And this will continue a

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detailed analysis to address these challenges as part of our long-term plan. The next category, programmatic investment, this budget includes over $25 million including for pre-K, library, arts, and nutrition

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upgrades, student recreation and athletic resources as well. And this will continue the district's stadium and swimming pool refurbishment program, which includes $5 million outside funding from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

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In FY27 budget, we also continuing our multi-year investment in the technology modernization program and high-speed internet for schools throughout the city. This budget includes over $56 million to upgrade school network infrastructure to

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address equitable connectivity, replace aging hardware at schools, and upgrade our data warehouse and data backups. This includes $4.7 million of outside funding from our from federal e-rate funds.

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Additionally, there will be $8.5 million for security equipment to make our schools safe for students and staff. And to support cleanliness at every school, $5.5 million will be used to fund the continued insourcing of custodial

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equipment to serve our students better. This This year's capital budget also includes over $58 million to design and build new playgrounds, playlots, and schoolyards across the city so students can benefit from a well-rounded

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education that promotes healthy and active development. In addition, $6 million will be allocated to improve parking lots and other site improvements. This category also includes $10.6 million of anticipated outside funding

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from our Space to Grow partners, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, and Chicago Department of Water Management. As we thought of this partnership, to date, 41 elementary schools have received green upgrades to

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their playgrounds with four more currently in construction this summer. This has been a good partnership for CPS is the benefit of supplemental funding, a new outdoor space, and the community benefits from additional stormwater retention due to these types of

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projects. The budget will also include $26 million in capital project support services necessary to implement the capital program, as well as support facilities projects. This includes management, planning,

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design assessment estimating and more. All needed to successfully implement a capital plan of this size, $600.43 million. dollars. The budget also includes $25 million in potential outside funding from

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anticipated Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity grants, or DCEO, that are currently in process with the state, and potential TIF funding from recent submissions. Here's a map of the capital projects

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overlaid against the UIC hardship index score, where the highest score, the darker the purple, and the higher the hardship. Starting in FY21, CPS utilized the equity index to prioritize projects across the city, and in the process, we

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have closed opportunity gaps by investing funding in schools furthest from opportunity. You can see here that the FY27 capital plan projects that were prioritized are aligned with areas of hardship based on

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data and based on your feedback. Here's another map where you can see that the FY27 budget will impact many communities across the city. Full details of the FY27 capital budget are also available on the interactive

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capital plan website located at www.cps.edu/capitalplan2027. The site off This site allows users to quickly select projects by school, geographic area, type, and year. I'll now, uh,

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read through some of the previously asked questions uh through the public comment. The first question we received was, "How are capital plans prioritized?" Uh as I had stated, there's no one-size-fits-all approach to capital

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planning, and we understand that the current process is imperfect. However, CPS is committed to improving this process continuously and incorporating public feedback like what we received from these meetings today. The capital plan is developed through a

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data-driven, needs-based approach. This is informed from a variety of resources, including facility condition assessments that are completed every 10 years, and also informed by on-site facilities personnel. We also take into account the

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opportunity index, as well as information received from the survey responses related to the capital community engagement sessions we held in the spring. The plan also needs to align with district initiatives like ADA accessibility, as well as taking into

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account how to maximize the impact of capital spend on students and student experiences. The next question we received was, "How does the plan incorporate green initiatives?" CPS will continue to incorporate

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sustainable materials in our capital projects as our specifications have been modified to include these types of materials. Examples include the energy-efficient mechanical equipment, roofs with higher R-values, uh low volatile organic

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compound containing paint, and others. Additionally, there will be a continued focus on the energy efficiency program, where we are again allocating funds for green initiatives like those that align with the green school board resolution.

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Next question was, "Is there a focus on ADA accessibility as a part of the capital plan? Accessibility remains a critical capital priority for Chicago Public Schools. We have worked closely with the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities to

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develop a long-term ADA capital investment strategy. This is a multi-year investment which has resulted in incremental progress with over 400 schools being first floor usable. Additionally, other projects, not just specifically

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ADA projects, can also include elements that will help with accessibility at a campus. If you would like to provide a comment, please do so on the website at www.cps.edu/capitalplan2027. With that, I'd like to turn it back over

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to Tracy for the public comment segment. >> Thank you, Arvin and Vinny. We will now proceed today's public comment segment, and before doing so, I would like to share the directions for public comment. For the record, I would like to note

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that registration for public hearing began on Wednesday, July 15th, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. and closed on Friday, July 17th, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. or until all 30 slots filled for each of the hearings,

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whichever occurred first. Individuals who registered to speak will have 2 minutes to comment. Participants will be alerted when 30 seconds remain. After 2 minutes, the facilitator will end the speaking time and promptly proceed to the next participant.

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I will begin calling speakers in chronological order. Members of the public may submit written comments related to the FY27 proposed capital budget via the capital budget hearing public comment form hosted on our

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website at www.cps.edu/capitalplan2027 until Thursday, July 23rd, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. This hearing will conclude after the last person who has registered to speak has spoken or at 4:30 p.m. July 23rd,

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whichever occurs first. When called, please state your name for the record. I will proceed by calling the first speaker. Please press star six to unmute. I don't believe we have any public

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speakers today. Therefore, this concludes the public comment segment. If you have additional comments, please submit them at www.cps.edu/capitalplan2027. Thank you again for your participation.

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This concludes the third FY27 capital hearing. Thank you.