More than 250 CPS employees barred from returning to school because of background check results

Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson announced Sunday that 266 employees will not be returning on the first day of school because something in their background was flagged in a new round of districtwide checks.

Nearly 60 of the employees barred from returning to class were teachers, Jackson said in a statement.

An additional 245 of the 43,332 employees reviewed by Sunday were banned because they chose not to submit fingerprints for the checks.

The new school year starts Tuesday.

Of the 266 employees, Jackson wrote: “CPS will be conducting thorough investigations in all of these instances to better understand the circumstances of each unique case. Employees were only removed based on the results of their background checks if arrests were identified that suggest a potential history of violence, sexual misconduct, or dangerous criminal activity.”

The announcement comes three days after Jackson declined to discuss the findings with the Tribune, saying she would only publicly share the results once the process was completed. The district also denied a Tribune public records request for the number of people who would be banned from entering schools.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-chicago-schools-background-checks-20180902-story.html#