Chicago Public School system removes 2 principals amid investigation into how sexual abuse allegations handled

Simeon High School (8147 S Vincennes Ave) by Eric Allix Rogers

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.
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“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.
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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.
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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

Another principal change...

I haven't attended any LSC meetings at all the past year. Not entirely certain why although I could blame the fact that I never knew the schedule as I'm certain that the schedule could change year-to-year. Another reason why is often because of work.

All the same I ran into an LSC member the other day and learned that Bennett-Shedd will go through another principal selection process. Ms. Teresa K. Anderson served only a year as principal having replaced longtime teacher/counselor Roberta Fields who herself succeeded Ms. Barbara Ellis the long-time Bennett-Shedd principal who passed away in January 2011.

I heard that Ms. Anderson wasn't getting along at Bennett-Shedd at all with teachers or parents. Although I made sure to note that there are some elementary school principals here in Chicago who are leaving the CPS system due to the turmoil after school closings and what not. In this case it was personal.

I did tell this person that I plan to come around more in the future. Hopefully the next person they select to be principal will prove to be a good fit!

Bennett-Shedd has a new principal again...

Well I missed some LSC meetings. The last one I attended it sounded like CPS for whatever reason wanted to make a change and that meant that Ms. Roberta Fields would be replaced as Principal. They were doing the same thing they did the year before figuring out who would be the late Mrs. Barbara Ellis' successor. Who knows when they decided but we know now Ms. Fields' successor. Fields served a whole year as the Principal of Bennett-Shedd.

I snapped this shot on my phone on Thursday!

This is a month old pic..

But Bennett-Shedd at least has a new principal just in time for the start of the new school year. And it took less time than I thought it would to choose her!