Elmhurst D-205 Consultant Verbally Abused Principals: Group

ELMHURST, IL — A consultant hired this week by the Elmhurst school board is under investigation by the Chicago Public Schools for allegations that he verbally abused more than 20 principals and administrators, the leader of a Chicago principals group says.

On Tuesday, the Elmhurst School District 205 board voted to contract with Jarvis Sanford as a "teaching and learning" consultant, making $800 a day. It was upon the recommendation of Superintendent Keisha Campbell, Sanford's former colleague.

Asked about the allegations against Sanford, the district issued a one-sentence statement Thursday, "Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 exercises due diligence when hiring consultants and employees.”

Sanford could not be reached for comment.

Sanford has been a longtime official with the Chicago-based Academy for Urban School Leadership. The academy is a nonprofit group with a network of 31 Chicago public schools with about 15,000 students. It was Superintendent Campbell's employer before she became superintendent.

Patch could find no references on the academy's website that Sanford is still employed there, although his LinkedIn page indicates he is, referring to him as the academy's managing director.

At a Chicago Public Schools board meeting in December, Troy LaRaviere, president of the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association, accused the school district's law department of stalling an investigation into Sanford. He said a principal he called "Michelle" filed a complaint alleging Sanford created a hostile and verbally abusive work environment.

LaRaviere told the board that in one case, Sanford, an African American, told Michelle in front of witnesses, "You know, I'm a (N-word), right? I don't take any s--- from all you in this school."

In another case, LaRaviere said, Sanford spoke to Michelle in the presence of others about the Black community, "These are my people. Y'all ain't s---. Get the f--- out of my face."

"It seems he picks and chooses his targets," LaRaviere said. "Some had problems with him, while others gave detailed stories of abuses as bad or worse as what I have already described."

He said the district's Office of Inspector General was supposed to handle Michelle's complaint, but that it was shifted to the law department. Just before the law department was set to interview Michelle, Sanford sent her a disciplinary meeting notice with a report compiled by the law department related to a complaint against her, LaRaviere said.

In that complaint, Sanford was the only witness against Michelle other than the complainant, even though Sanford had no direct knowledge of the allegations, LaRaviere said. Sanford was serving as a character witness.

"At CPS, who gets to punish Michelle after this disciplinary meeting orchestrated by your law department? Jarvis Sanford," LaRaviere said.

One of the problems is that Sanford gets to serve as the witness, the judge and the jury, LaRaviere said.

He asked the school board to remove the law department from the case and hire an independent firm to investigate the allegations against Sanford.

LaRaviere's statement to the board is included in a video about Sanford produced by the Chicago principals association. The association and LaRaviere posted it to Facebook in May.

The video presented a number of statistics on how Michelle improved her school's outcomes for its majority African American, low-income population.

After LaRaviere's statement, the school district's inspector general launched an investigation into Sanford's conduct, according to the video.

It also said, "Despite the fear of retaliation, more than 20 principals and school administrators submitted statements alleging abusive behavior by Sanford. Their allegations against Sanford include sending a staffer to a principal's hospital bed to force her to complete compliance work and threatening to 'bitch slap' another principal."

Patch contacted the Chicago Public Schools' communications office Wednesday and was told to send its questions by email. No one had replied to Patch's email as of Thursday afternoon.

In May, Chalkbeat, an online Chicago educational publication, reported that the district confirmed it was investigating Sanford, but it did not reveal the nature of the allegations.

In 2018, LaRaviere got a lot of publicity during the short time he was a candidate for Chicago mayor.

As of Thursday afternoon, Elmhurst School District 205 had not posted online its contract with Sanford. It typically posts such documents the morning after the meeting. This week's meeting was Tuesday night.