Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest education news.
Chicago’s Air Force Academy High School will no longer be affiliated with the U.S. Air Force — and will change its name in the coming year.
The school, which opened in 2009, will instead offer JROTC through the U.S. Army, Chicago Public Schools officials told families in an email Friday.
The school opened in 2009 and was the only wall-to-wall public Air Force Academy high school in the country. It’s been lauded by Mayor Brandon Johnson and is one of six military schools in CPS where participation in JROTC is mandatory. Currently, there are roughly 130 students enrolled, down from more than 300 a decade ago.
The deactivation of the Air Force Academy High School JROTC program means there are no longer Air Force JROTC programs in CPS. A program inside Phillips High School was closed for low enrollment in 2022. There are 815 active Air Force JROTC programs at other schools across the country.
The U.S. Air Force deactivated the school’s program on Aug. 11 and families were notified the next day, roughly one week before the start of the school year. A spokesperson for the U.S. Air Force said Chicago Public Schools was notified of noncompliance issues five months ago on March 4 and provided extra time to come into compliance.
A CPS spokesperson said Friday the school has been approved by the U.S. Army Cadet Command to establish an Army JROTC program at the school starting Tuesday, Sept. 2, allowing students to graduate with JROTC certification, which is a CPS Early College credential. Retired Army instructors will run the program until full-time Army teachers are hired.
JROTC is federally funded through the military branch that authorizes the program, providing uniforms, training equipment, and partial funding for military instructor salaries.
Losing the Air Force JROTC program had raised questions about how existing students would be able to complete CPS graduation requirements, particularly for physical education since all students in the Air Force Academy were part of the military program and the school did not have a traditional gym class.
CPS plans to maintain the school’s aviation program through the district’s Department of Career and Technical Education, a district spokesperson said.
In Chicago, enrollment in JROTC more broadly has been declining. There are 5,400 students enrolled in the military programs at 44 schools, most are affiliated with the Army, though a handful of schools have a Navy or Marine program. Four years ago, JROTC enrollment was more than 7,800.
A 2021 Chalkbeat investigation found hundreds of students were being involuntarily placed in JROTC programs at high schools that were not full military academies. An investigation by CPS’ Inspector General found the practice of enrolling all freshmen at some South and West side high schools was prevalent and done often “in lieu of” physical education.
But the Air Force Academy High School’s compliance issues with the U.S. Air Force centered around how students were removed — or “disenrolled” — from Air Force JROTC when they were not meeting the requirements of the program. Air Force Academy High School is a magnet and students must apply and sign an agreement to follow the rules of the program. CPS officials said the school’s policy conflicted with the district’s enrollment and transfer policy, which was updated in November 2024. The revisions included the elimination of an exception for military programs.
“The [disenrollment] policy has always kind of been a problem, but it was never really tested,” said Karen Allen, who served in the Air Force for 20 years and was the school’s master sergeant until she was laid off the Friday before school started.
Allen said concerns from the Air Force arose during an annual inspection regarding students at the school being out of uniform. She said she worked with Air Force officials and CPS officials to review the policy for transferring students and presented a solution that would have allowed students who weren’t in compliance to remain at the school, but leave the JROTC program. But Allen said the proposed compromise was under review by the district’s legal department for many months and CPS missed multiple deadlines from the U.S. Air Force.
“Schools are typically given 30 days to rectify similar identified issues,” a spokesperson for the U.S. Air Force said. “In this instance, Air Force Academy High School was granted an additional four months.”
Allen, who is a joint employee of the U.S. Air Force and CPS, was terminated the day after the program was deactivated.
“It’s a great program, and I’m sorry to leave the school,” she said. “I love the kids. I love working there. I thought I would finish out my career there.”
Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.
