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The fierce competition for admission to Walter Payton College Prep is prompting Chicago Public Schools officials to increase the school's enrollment by about 200, but that could squeeze out an elementary school across the street from the high school.

As early as next year, when Payton's enrollment could surpass 1,000, its students could be attending classes in the building that now houses the Salazar Bilingual Education Center. School district officials say they are looking for a new site for the elementary school, but parents are concerned that the location might not be as desirable or convenient.

"It's not fair that our children are being relocated because rich kids at Walter Payton need more space," complained Rosa Martinez, the local school council's chairwoman who is heading a committee to look into the issue and keep the mostly Spanish-speaking parents informed. "They find it so easy to do away with our school."

District officials will meet Tuesday morning with parents to discuss possible relocation plans.

Many Salazar parents and teachers wonder why Payton, built three years ago at Oak and Wells Streets, was designed to accommodate an enrollment of only 800. They also complain the space is not well utilized.

"They have more space than they use," said Salazar computer teacher Derek Freidheim, looking across the street at the striking, modern Payton building. "They have ... rooms in that building that they use only on certain days at certain times.

"We use closets, we use every space that is possible to use for holding classes," Freidheim said. "They [Payton] want it as a luxury."

School district officials said the land set aside for Payton restricted the building's size, but that fit in with their plans to make Payton exclusive and small--as are other selective enrollment high schools in the city with the exception of Lane Tech.

But the planned increase in Payton enrollment will not be a detriment to the small schools model, said Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan.

"It's the most popular school in the state and the hardest school to get into," Duncan said. "There's clearly a huge interest. If we could create a couple more hundred spots for a school where we are seeing such tremendous demand, I would love to be able to do that."

Payton is leasing six classrooms in a nearby former Catholic school building.

Last year, Payton received 6,388 applications but only 321 freshmen were accepted, making it the toughest seat to win among the city's eight selective enrollment high schools.

Most of the children attending Salazar come from Latino neighborhoods--Pilsen, Little Village, Back of the Yards and some on the North Side.

About 10 years ago, the neighborhood schools in those areas were overcrowded and Salazar was opened in a Catholic school building in Pilsen to provide some relief. Eventually, it moved to the Old Town area, to a landmark building that housed one of the city's first high schools, and evolved into a dual language academy.

Parents can ask to have their children attend Salazar instead of their neighborhood school, and the district provides bus service for many of the pupils.

Parents like the fact that Salazar is in a safe neighborhood and cite that as a reason for sending their children so far from their homes.

School officials say, however, that they will not be able to afford to continue busing Salazar pupils once the school is in a new location. They said some of the neighborhood schools that once were overcrowded now have room to accommodate the return of the Salazar pupils.

"I think that ultimately kids are served best in their neighborhood," said Giacomo Mancuso, the director of capital planning and demographics for the school district who is working with the parents.

He said he understands the parents' desire to keep the academy operating, though, and "the reality is that we are trying our best to make it happen, and they [Salazar pupils] will not move until we find them a place."

But parents are not so sure.

Noemee Solache, who was picking up her two children at Salazar one afternoon, said she believed it upsets residents in the neighborhood to see, "so many Spanish faces."

"Why is it that school is going to stay there and not this one?" she asked, emphasizing the perception that a large percentage of Payton students are white and come from higher-income families.

Chicago schools' figures show that 93 percent of Salazar's pupils are Latino, and Payton is 34 percent African-American, 31 percent white and 30 percent Latino.

Salazar's teachers also have felt the pinch of Payton's popularity as they try to park their cars. The Payton athletic field took up their old parking lot, so teachers were asked to park in another area beneath the train tracks. The high school students began using that lot, which forced Salazar teachers to seek parking in an area notorious for a lack of it. The school district provided another teacher parking lot but teachers say that already, the high school students are starting to catch on.

Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune