Residency Fraud By CPS Teachers On North Shore: Inspector General

CHICAGO — North Shore residents were among those investigated for fraud, misconduct and mismanagement by the inspector general for Chicago Public Schools. Chicago Board of Education Inspector General Nick Schuler Monday released his office's 2019 annual report, summarizing recent investigations and changes in the watchdog office.

At least four employees living in North Shore communities were the subject of investigations into residency fraud over the past year. Under school board policy, employees who lie about their address in connection with a violation of residency requirements are subject to immediate termination.

One investigation found an elementary school teacher living in Deerfield had falsely claimed he lived in Chicago and had used Chicago Public Schools resources to work his side job as a real estate broker, according to the inspector general's office.

Though the Deerfield realtor never received approval from his principal to work the second job in violation of the code of ethics, he would perform real estate work during the school day, the office reported. The report also found the teacher attended a wedding using sick days.

The inspector general's office recommended the teacher be fired and a "do not hire," or DNH, designation be placed into his personnel file. The board had not made a disciplinary decision in the case at the time of the inspector general's annual report.

Also pending is a decision on a Glenview woman who lied to the district about her residency for the entirety of her 14-year career as a high school science teacher at CPS.

Science teachers are eligible for residency waivers as especially needed positions, according to the inspector general's office, but she never got one.

The office recommended she be terminated but acknowledged the board might want to consider the potential waiver as a mitigating factor. The board has not completed disciplinary proceedings against the teacher.

A community coordinator in the district's central office working on faith-based initiatives lived in Skokie, despite telling the district he was living in Chicago, according to the report. He resigned from the district after speaking with staff from the inspector general's office, and the board placed a do not hire designation into his personnel file.

A school culture coordinator who lived in Evanston for all of the five years he spent working for Chicago Public Schools falsely claimed he lived in Chicago, according to the report. The board fired him and placed a do not hire designation into his personnel fire.

The inspector general's office also reported finding residency fraud by staff living in Arlington Heights, Calumet Park, Cicero, Forest Park, Lansing, Maywood, Park Ridge and River Forest. A special education classroom assistant lived in Romeoville but got free pre-kindergarten using a false Chicago address, and two staff members lived in Hazel Crest while sending their child to a public school in Chicago tuition-free, according to the report.

Schuler told the Chicago Tribune his office receives "far more" complaints of residency fraud than it can investigate, describing the issue as a "steady, constant problem." According to the inspector general's report, the number of complaints about residency fraud fell from 180 in 2018 to 140 in 2019.

Related: Wilmette Resident Resigns From Chicago Roles Amid Probe: Report

Also featured in the office's annual report: the disciplinary case of former Whitney Young High School swim coach Andy Parro and Joyce Kenner, the principal of the high-performing selective enrollment school on the Near West Side.

According to the inspector general's office, Parro pocketed $30,000 in money that should have gone to the school by cutting side deals with outside groups to rent the pool. The principal and assistant principal should have been aware of his activities — especially since he had already been investigated for past pool-related misconduct — the inspector general determined.

Investigative reports from the inspector general's office are exempt from public records disclosure requirements. The staff members involved were not named by the inspector general but have been identified in past reporting.

Parro, who faces five felony charges, was named aquatics director and head coach of swimming and diving teams at the Illinois Institute of Technology in April 2019. The board plans to begin debarment proceedings against him, according to the inspector general's office. The inspector general's office recommended "serious discipline" for the principal, Kenner, and appropriate discipline for her assistant. Kenner received a five-day unpaid suspension and the assistant got a written reprimand.

Read: complete 2019 CPS Inspector General Annual Report