Yo, so there’s this former investigator who spent like forever, more than 18 months, looking into some shady stuff going down at Little Village Lawndale High School. She’s all like, “Dude, what’s taking the Chicago Public Schools’ inspector general so long to do their thing?” Stephanie Brown, who used to be part of the Sexual Allegations Unit in the Office of Inspector General at CPS, spilled the tea to NBC 5 Investigates in a recent chat. She was all set to wrap up her investigation in 2023, but got the boot before she could drop the mic.
Brown’s been digging into some real sketchy allegations of grooming involving students and a bunch of educators since 2021. And get this, the investigation is still hanging in limbo more than three years later. Like, what’s the hold-up, right? At least seven teachers and admin peeps have either bounced or been kicked out of Little Village Lawndale High School since 2017 over some teacher misconduct drama.
So, like, the Office of Inspector General’s Sexual Allegations Unit found dirt on three educators, but they’re still trying to untangle the mess with a bunch more. Like, can they just hurry it up already? Like, what’s the deal with dragging this out forever? Brown was all in, she talked to like 50 people, did a bunch of interviews, and was all about wrapping things up. But then she got shown the door in 2023, like, really?
After Brown got the boot, she started sweating about the fate of the investigation and how it’s been chilling for so long. She’s like, “Yo, CPS better get their act together and finish this up ASAP.” Brown even let NBC 5 Investigates in on the scoop that a summary report on the whole shebang is due next month, according to Inspector General Phil Wagenknecht. Let’s see if they finally spill the beans on what’s been going down at that school.
Oh, and by the way, 12 former students spilled the beans to NBC 5 Investigates about how they got roped into some shady relationships with their teachers. It’s like a whole ‘Lessons in Betrayal’ vibe up in here. One student, Ana, spilled that she had a four-year thing with her teacher, Dennis Kass. She wasn’t the only one, though. Another student, Jasmine, admitted to getting down with Kass months after she graduated. Like, talk about crossing the line, right?
And then there’s Gabby, who spilled that she got caught up in some mess with her art teacher, Danny Pena, while she was still a senior. She felt all used and gross about the whole thing. Like, who does that, right? And don’t even get me started on Hans Krueger, who was sending some inappropriate messages. It’s like a whole mess of drama at that school.
But hey, at least some of these teachers bounced or got kicked out. Kass dipped in 2022, while Pena bounced in 2017 and got slapped with a ‘Do Not Hire’ label. Krueger jetted in 2017 too, but didn’t get put on the list until 2022 for some serious misconduct allegations. And get this, the former principal of Infinity, Charles Smith, is now working at a middle school in Elgin. Like, talk about a shady crew, right?
So, like, the investigation is still dragging on, but maybe we’ll finally get some answers soon. Or maybe not, who knows? It’s like a whole soap opera over there at Little Village Lawndale High School. But one thing’s for sure, something fishy’s been going down, and someone needs to clean house, like, yesterday.
