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Chicago Public Schools staffers took “questionable, excessive, and even exorbitant” trips to South Africa, Egypt, Finland, and elsewhere — complete with wildlife safaris, a hot air balloon ride, and camel rides at the district’s expense, a new report by the CPS watchdog found.
Lax oversight and an influx in federal COVID aid led to the increase in travel expenditures, which more than doubled since 2019 even as budget trouble loomed, according to the district’s Office of the Inspector General.
The watchdog also found hundreds of district and school staff traveled to a series of conferences in Las Vegas and other cities, in many cases racking up high hotel and airfare costs. When the organizer of these events put on similar professional development events in Chicago or virtually, few district employees attended.
Overall, the district spent $7.7 million on staff and student travel in fiscal year 2024, compared with $3.6 million in 2019. The watchdog’s report said many trips were likely worthwhile and enriching to employees and students, but some seemed of questionable value.
“Over and over, CPS employees booked trips using CPS funds without required pre-approvals, exceeded CPS spending limits on hotel rooms and airfare, and enjoyed out-of-town activities of dubious necessity or value to students — all as CPS drew closer and closer to a budget crisis,” the report said.
Over the summer, the district laid off hundreds of custodians, crossing guards, cafeteria workers, and others and made other budget cuts to close a $734 million deficit in its $10.2 billion budget. It faces more massive shortfalls in the coming years.
In response to the inspector general’s findings, the district imposed a freeze on nearly all staff travel unrelated to student activities this fall and formed a committee this month to come up with better travel approval procedures and controls. A new financial system the district is currently rolling out will better flag travel expenses that exceed district limits or mismatches between preapproved and actual spending, the district said in a statement.
Interim district CEO Macquline King and treasurer Walter Stock announced the travel freeze in a letter to staff in late October.
“This measure reflects our continued commitment to responsible financial stewardship and to prioritizing resources that directly support classrooms and students,” they wrote.
In an interview with Chalkbeat, Philip Wagenknecht, the inspector general for CPS, noted that almost 200 of the district’s roughly 500 schools had no overnight travel spending. But otherwise, his office found questionable travel expenses across the city, driven in part by the greater budget flexibility that came with federal pandemic recovery dollars.
“This is a case of systemic issues in CPS,” he said. “These abuses were widespread.”
The watchdog started investigating after receiving a complaint that one elementary school had paid more than $20,000 to a travel agency for an upcoming staff trip to Egypt without district approval, in addition to other “lavish” outings. CPS canceled that and three other trips planned by the agency. The inspector general does not generally name employees, schools, or vendors in its reports.
Ultimately, the watchdog found that eight schools had spent more than $142,000 for 15 staff trips overseas, billed as school visits and professional development but packed with unscheduled time and optional activities. Thirteen had never been preapproved as required. District officials had explicitly rejected one trip, but staff went anyway.
The inspector general’s office also got a second complaint that a CPS principal traveled to multiple conferences in Las Vegas without district approval, at one point booking a $400 a night suite for him and his wife two nights before the event began.
The watchdog later found that 600 school and district employees had traveled to professional development events by the Vegas conference organizer at a cost of more than $1.5 million between 2022 and 2024. Almost 90% of these attendees exceeded the district’s hotel room spending limit, and at least two dozen took flights from Chicago to Las Vegas costing more than $1,000.
Among other examples of questionable travel, one teacher spent $4,700 for a seven-day stay at a luxury Hawaiian resort to attend a four-day professional development seminar. The inspector general also flagged some student trips, including a 2023 college tour for 80 students preapproved at $15,000 but actually costing $72,000. One trip to South Africa for 20 students cost more than $5,200 per person.
In some cases, travel agencies charged the district up to 20% of travel costs in hidden fees.
Among the watchdog’s recommendations was to convert a vacant CPS building or a portion of an underutilized school into a professional development center for both district employees and staff from other districts seeking training.
“CPS can use its bargaining power to bring more professional development to Chicago,” Wagenknecht said.
The report said the district is looking at disciplining two employees.
The inspector general found that the travel agency that organized the overseas staff development trips violated the district’s code of ethics by offering a CPS staffer free airfare and lodging to lead a future tour while it sought business with the staffer’s school. The agency, which did not have a contract with the district, isn’t working with CPS now. But the watchdog recommended that the agency’s staff undergo training and sign a contract if it were to work with the district in the future.
Mila Koumpilova is Chalkbeat Chicago’s senior reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Mila at mkoumpilova@chalkbeat.org.
