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CPS offices report record complaints and slower investigations; board seeks deeper analysis
Summary
The Office of Student Protections told the board it received roughly 12,000 reports in school year 2025 and opened about 4,100 investigations; the Office of Inspector General reported dozens of substantiated staff misconduct cases and urged faster fact-gathering. Board members pressed for root‑cause analysis and more timely outcomes.
The Office of Student Protections told the Chicago Board of Education on Dec. 3 that it received roughly 12,000 reports in school year 2025 and opened about 4,100 investigations, an increase from the previous year.
"For school year '25, we received approximately 12,000 reports," Elizabeth Mendoza Brown, chief Title IX officer in the Office of Student Protections, said as she reviewed case types, training completion rates and prevention efforts. She said OSP opened about 2,064 student‑to‑student misconduct investigations and 1,117 bias‑based harm investigations, and that dating‑violence cases rose about 70% compared with the prior year.
Phil Wagenekt, the district inspector general, told the board the Office of Inspector General's allegations unit has narrowed its intake focus and has been reducing its backlog. He said the unit opened 246 cases last fiscal year and closed 336, and so far this year it has substantiated 19 cases and issued 25 not‑substantiated reports. He also said 31 staff members have been pulled or removed from school buildings while investigations are pending.
"We have opened, since 2018, 2,700 cases and closed 2,400," Wagenekt said, noting a mix of substantiated findings and administratively closed matters. He told the board that on a per‑student basis, high schools are seeing allegation rates about 3.7 times higher than elementary schools this year.
Board members pressed both offices for more granular analysis. "What is the main factor that drove the decision?" asked one member, requesting clarity on whether utilization, finances or receiving‑school feedback shaped district choices. Member Rivas and others urged faster investigations to limit school disruption when staff are removed. "Timeliness and whatever we can do to ensure that your office has the capacity to have more timely investigations," Rivas said.
OSP said training compliance is improving but not complete: about 82% of district staff completed the mandatory Protecting Chicago Children training and about 72% finished bystander‑intervention training. The office said it is expanding outreach to students and parents, updating training content and piloting bystander curricula in 45 schools.
Both presenters said they will follow up with additional demographic breakdowns and deeper trend analysis on request. Dr. Wally Stock, the acting CFO, and other board members signaled interest in using the findings to shape audits, training and potential resource allocations.
The OSP and OIG briefings concluded with requests from the board for follow‑up reports detailing root causes, demographic breakdowns for specific categories of harm and plans to accelerate fact‑gathering and reporting timelines.
