As part of a consolidation plan approved by the Chicago Board of Education in February, students and teachers from Roque De Duprey Elementary will be moved to neighboring Von Humboldt Elementary in the fall.

A group of Duprey Elementary teachers have already checked out their new digs and don't like what they see.

"Our biggest concerns are there are holes in the wall, chipping lead paint," says Elizabeth Thorngren, an eighth-grade math teacher at Duprey.

Three Duprey teachers yesterday pushed Chicago Public Schools to make improvements to Humboldt before the new school year begins.

Their comments came at the first of six CPS capital-expenditure hearings to be held this month.

Yesterday's, at Walter Payton College Prep High School, was administered by chief purchasing officer Heather A. Obora.

The public input will be considered as CPS finalizes plans for its 2008-09 budget, according to Obora.

"We're trying to do a lot with a little," Obora says.

Thorngren said she hopes improvements could be done at Humboldt before Duprey teachers move their classroom materials to Humboldt during the summer.

Thorngren says teachers were told by board president Rufus Williams that "board policy is to not relocate children into a school with worse facilities."

Duprey, located at 1405 N. Washtenaw Ave. just east of Humboldt Park, has 235 students this year and will be merged into a student body of about 600 at Humboldt.

Obora also heard from school principals who described buildings with windows that wouldn't close and leaky roofs.

"Our windows have not been replaced since the 1970s. It's horrible in the winter because the snow comes right in," says Alice Vera, principal of De Diego Community Academy, 1313 N. Claremont Ave.

She also said that the school's new gymnasium floor has been damaged by a leaky roof.

"We have a beautiful gymnasium floor that is now warped," she says.

At Goethe Elementary, 2236 N. Rockwell St., the athletic fields regularly flood because of poor drainage.

"Still water there would sit for days on end. It became known as Lake Goethe," says principal Barbara Kargas. "People in the community have complained about it. It (the field) was created to serve the community and it is not serving them very well."

Obora also heard complaints about the athletic facilities at Payton, which has a gymnasium with only three rows of bleachers. The gym is so small that the school's basketball teams rent space elsewhere, such as Moody Bible and Truman College, for its home games.

"We really would like to partner with you to help this facilities problem," Paula Dienton, a parent volunteer, told Obora.

The next hearing will be held at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Alexander Graham Bell Elementary, 3730 N. Oakley Ave., a session that Obora expects to be lively because of overcrowding issues on the north side. Sign-ups to speak at the hearing are from 4 to 5 p.m.

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