Interim Chicago Public Schools CEO Jesse Ruiz on April 22 suspended the controversial $20.5 million professional development contract at the heart of an ongoing federal probe that led his predecessor to temporarily step down.

Barbara Byrd-Bennett, the school system’s head, is on a paid leave of absence pending investigation of a 2013 no-bid contract with SUPES Academy, a for-profit company for which she used to work.

District records reveal that the company was hired in 2013 on a “noncompetitive basis” to provide school leadership training school to network chiefs and principals. Federal investigators are examining the hiring.

Ruiz has also called for an outside firm to review the district’s contract process and has halted all sole source contracts pending its findings.

Ruiz, then the Chicago Board of Education’s vice president, and David Vitale, its president, were among officials who voted unanimously to approve the SUPES contract. Vitale has acknowledged that the board knew of Byrd-Bennett’s connection to the company but did not see any conflict of interest.

Parents have called for removing the current school board, handpicked by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and replacing it with an elected board.

Chicago Tribune, April 17, 22
ABC 7, April 19