Chicago Public Schools Inspector General leaves district for new job

The inspector general of Chicago Public Schools is leaving the school district to take a new job after leading investigations into the use of COVID relief funds and high-ranking individuals who received pandemic salaries while working for the school district.

William Fletcher's last day was Aug. 23. The mayor has already named his deputy, Amber Nesbitt, as acting inspector general. Nesbitt has been in the inspector general's office for six years and heads the unit that investigates adult sexual misconduct in schools. The mayor's office said it will search for a permanent successor.

Fletcher was appointed in June 2020 after his predecessor abruptly resigned amid much controversy. Fletcher said he was voluntarily resigning to become inspector general for a $16 billion project to improve rail service between New York City, Newark and New Jersey.

Fletcher took over as inspector general just as the federal government was beginning to send unprecedented amounts of money to individuals, businesses and governments to help them cope with the pandemic.

Fletcher said one of his biggest concerns as he leaves is how the district will handle the drying up of federal COVID aid. He noted that the district spent much of its $2.8 billion on operating expenses, such as personnel.

“CPS is going to have to make some really difficult decisions as the federal pandemic aid allocated to the district disappears,” he said.

Fletcher's office is already suffering from budget shortfalls. Due to the increased responsibility for investigating sexual misconduct, the Office of the Inspector General's budget doubled from fiscal year 2019 to fiscal year 2024, which ended June 30. However, the $6.9 million budget for the coming fiscal year is $500,000 less than the amount approved last year.

Federal COVID relief funds were one of the things that preoccupied Fletcher's office. Fletcher's office found that some charter schools and CPS employees, including some high-level employees, received PPP loans even though they continued to be paid by the district.

During one of those investigations, Fletcher's office revealed that some bus companies had received millions from school districts and PPP loans and were supposed to use that money to retain bus drivers, even though they weren't needed to transport students who were taking online classes at home.

The inspector general found that many of these companies fired their drivers anyway and pocketed the money. Nearly 600 drivers lost their jobs, some of whom never returned.

The consequences of that decision are still being felt today, as the district still has trouble finding enough bus drivers. But district officials said they could not take action against the companies because they did not have written agreements on how the money would be spent.

Fletcher's office also found that CPS failed to account for laptops, iPads and hotspots distributed during the pandemic, with one report saying some 77,505 devices valued at $23 million were lost or stolen.

Just a few years before Fletcher took office, the inspector general's authority was expanded to include investigations of sexual misconduct by adults with students. The office employs 30 investigators who investigate a wide range of cases.

Fletcher said the school district is doing a much better job of making people aware of the need to report situations where sexual misconduct may be occurring, but he said the next challenge is figuring out how to handle cases where creepy, sexualized behavior occurs but isn't considered abuse.

Sarah Karp reports on education for WBEZ.