Chicago Public Schools inspector general departs

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Chicago Public Schools Inspector General Will Fletcher resigned earlier this month, leaving an opening at the top of one of the nation’s largest school district watchdog agencies.

Over the past four years, Fletcher’s office investigated thousands of sexual misconduct complaints, among other high-profile cases. He stepped down to take a new position two years before his contract was due to expire in 2026.

Fletcher, who started a job this week at the Gateway Development Commission — a public transit agency run jointly by New York and New Jersey — said he had felt no pressure to find a new job and left the district only reluctantly.

“This job was especially important to me because I had a personal commitment to CPS as a former student and a CPS parent,” he said.

On Thursday, the school board is slated to pass a resolution acknowledging Mayor Brandon Johnson’s appointment of Amber Nesbitt, Fletcher’s deputy who led his office’s sexual allegation unit, as acting inspector general while the mayor decides on a permanent replacement.

Fletcher’s departure, first reported by WTTW , came about four-and-a-half years after he was appointed by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot. He oversaw a number of inquiries that exposed significant misconduct in CPS and drove changes in the district.

His office cracked down on federal Paycheck Protection Program loan abuse by district employees and led district officials to keep better track of hundreds of thousands of laptops, tablets, and other devices bought during the pandemic .

His office also investigated automatic enrollment of all students into JROTC, or Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, at some high schools serving primarily Black students. This practice was brought to light in a 2021 Chalkbeat article . The district ended the practice after Fletcher’s investigation.

After taking over the inspector general’s office in 2020, Fletcher expanded the sexual misconduct investigation unit the district had launched two years earlier, following the publication of a Chicago Tribune series that exposed district mishandling of sexual harassment and abuse of students .

The unit opened more than 2,180 cases since its creation and fielded more than 400 complaints in fiscal 2023 alone. It has substantiated hundreds of complaints, resulting in discipline and criminal charges. The unit’s investigations included inquiries into a dozen employees at Marine Leadership Academy and the former head of Urban Prep Charter Academy , which along with other factors led the district to pull that school’s charter.

He came to oversee a team of 58 people with a $7 million budget, though some positions are now vacant or frozen as part of the district’s efforts to address a growing budget deficit.

Fletcher said overseeing the sexual misconduct and abuse unit has been one of the most rewarding parts of the job.

“It’s a truly unique office that gives students a voice,” he said.

He said his successor must continue the work of making the office more efficient and responsive to the public.

If the mayor’s office does not appoint a replacement to serve out the remainder of Fletcher’s term by Jan. 1, Chicago’s new, partly elected school board could approve a new inspector general when it takes over on Jan. 15, 2025.

Mila Koumpilova is Chalkbeat Chicago’s senior reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Mila at mkoumpilova@chalkbeat.org .