We've shared a few piece with regards to sexual abuse allegations within Chicago Public Schools. For our purposes we're just going to focus on the
removal of the principal of nearby
Simeon High School over sexual abuse allegations by a school volunteer:
Sheldon House, the principal of Simeon Career Academy, was removed amid a
newly disclosed allegation of sexual abuse lodged against an unnamed
school volunteer. District officials said that allegation was discovered
during an audit of “systemic issues” in the school’s background check
process.
...
“As a result of district-led investigations into allegations of sexual abuse, two CPS
principals were removed from their positions today due to initial
findings that suggest they did not effectively safeguard their
students,” Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson said in a statement.
“Investigations
into both cases remain ongoing, and we will keep the school communities
updated as this process moves forward,” she said.
The district
announced the administrators’ removal barely more than a day before a
scheduled Chicago Board of Education vote to change how CPS investigates
allegations of sexual misconduct by adults against students, as well as
new practices that would require employees to inform child welfare
authorities and supervisors of “any interactions or behaviors which
suggest that an adult has or had an inappropriately intimate
relationship with a child or may be grooming a child,” even if the
employee does not have “reasonable suspicion” of whether any abuse
occurred.
...
At Simeon, CPS officials said they launched an internal review of
“management practices designed to keep students safe,” which occurred amid a Tribune investigation
that documented the school’s failure to conduct a mandated criminal
background check before making Gerald Gaddy an assistant coach of the
boys wrestling and girls track teams starting in 2010.
...
CPS officials said the Simeon audit found “systemic issues” in the
school’s handling of volunteer background checks, while uncovering an
unspecified, new allegation of sexual abuse by an unidentified Simeon
volunteer.
The recent allegation “was not handled in accordance
with CPS policy,” according to the district. The volunteer is now barred
from the school, and the allegation is under investigation.
CPS
said it selected Patricia Woodson, a retired former principal, to lead
the school until a new principal is selected by Simeon’s local school
council.
Hat-tip
Newsalert
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