Jesse Owens’ family weighs in on school closings

A daughter of Olympics track and field legend Jesse Owens is objecting to plans by the Chicago Board of Education to close a school named for him.

Jesse Owens Community Academy is one of 54 schools that may be closed. Gloria Owens Hemphill, the eldest of Owens’ three daughters, said Tuesday at a hearing that her father believed everyone was a champion.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports Hemphill said the family is “very upset” the South Side school may not be there in the future.

Chicago Public Schools officials say Owens’ enrollment of 333 students put it under capacity for the space it occupies and therefore should close. The school board will vote in May on the proposal.

Owens won four gold medals during the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.