Chicago will boost security for students displaced from closing schools

The Chicago school system has unveiled a security plan for students whose schools are going to be shut down. The Chicago Tribune says the district will pay community groups to watch over children as they go to and from their new schools and will add security personnel inside those schools. The district will announce by the end of this month how many schools it intends to close at the end of 2012-13; the number may be as high as 80. The security plan calls for the walking distance between a student's old school and new school will not be more than four-fifths of a mile, administrators say. If the distance is greater than that, buses will be provided. The effort is an expansion of Chicago's "Safe Passage" program. It is an $8.2 million program available at 35 high schools, and provides adult supervision and security staff to walk students to and from school.