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OSP and OIG presentations show rising reports and racial disparities in complaints to CPS
Summary
The district’s Office of Student Protections reported roughly 12,000 reports and 4,100 investigations in school year '25, with rising dating-violence cases and demographic concentrations; the Office of Inspector General summarized its allegations unit workload and substantiated cases since 2018.
Chicago — Two offices that handle allegations of student harm presented data and trends to the Chicago Board of Education on Dec. 3, highlighting increases in reporting, demographic patterns and ongoing investigative work.
Elizabeth Mendoza Brown, chief Title IX officer in the Office of Student Protections, told the board OSP received approximately 12,000 reports in school year '25 and opened about 4,100 cases — a 6% increase over the prior year in cases opened. She said OSP opened 2,064 student‑to‑student misconduct investigations, 1,117 bias‑based harm investigations and 998 investigations of staff misconduct. Mendoza Brown highlighted a 70% increase in dating‑violence cases between school year '24 and '25 and said Latino and Black students were the most‑represented complainants in OSP caseloads.
"We continue to see allegations of race‑based harassment as the highest percentage of cases at about 50 percent," Mendoza Brown said, and noted the office is expanding training, restorative and bystander‑intervention programs.
Phil Wagenekt, the inspector general, presented the OIG’s update on its allegations unit and described trends since the unit’s 2018 inception: roughly 2,700 cases opened and 2,400 closed to date. He said last school year the OIG opened 246 cases and closed 336, and that so far in the current fiscal year the OIG opened 51 cases and closed 84. The OIG reported 471 substantiated cases sent to the board since 2018, including a mix of findings (boundary violations, policy failures and, in a smaller number, substantiated sexual‑misconduct findings).
Wagenekt said the OIG continues to prioritize timely investigations and that some staff removals are necessary during investigations; he described a decline in the number of teachers pulled from classrooms while cases are pending (the number was higher in earlier years and down to 10 removed teachers at the time of presentation).
Board members asked about demographic breakdowns and timeliness. Mendoza Brown said OSP would provide additional demographic detail on boys experiencing bias‑based harms and reiterated that the office was auditing training-completion rates. The district did not vote on policy changes at this agenda-review session; both presentations were informational and generated requests for follow-up data from staff.
What happens next: OSP said it will provide requested demographic breakdowns and that OIG reports and recommendations will continue to be posted to the board as investigations reach conclusion.
