Twelve employees at Marine Leadership Academy and a school volunteer either committed or covered up sexual misconduct that dates back five years, Chicago Public Schools officials announced Friday ahead of the release of an inspector general report.
Ten adults have been fired or are in the process of being fired stemming from the incidents at the Logan Square school, CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said.
“The behavior uncovered by this investigation represents a stunning betrayal of trust and colossal failure of judgment and character on the part of far too many individuals,” Martinez said at Friday’s news conference. “Every student deserves to feel safe, protected and supported in their school. And anything that gets in (the) way should not be tolerated and will not be tolerated.”
The sexual misconduct occurred between 2016 and the spring of 2021, Martinez told Marine Leadership Academy parents in a letter Friday. CPS’ Office of the Inspector General said it received complaints in April 2019 about two staff members alleged to have been engaged in sexual abuse of students at the school, and “the investigation quickly expanded” because of new allegations.

The office said it conducted 155-plus interviews, compiled more than 29,000 pages of documents and reviewed 151,000 pages of emails. Among the findings:
A male teacher frequently had “private, closed-door interactions” in his classroom “that were not clearly related to school” with a female student from 2017 to 2019. In January 2019, the student, then in 12th grade, changed her clothing in the classroom while alone with the teacher. In June of that year, just weeks after the student graduated, the teacher sent her social media communications “that included flirtatious content and sexual advances.”
A second teacher engaged in “sexual misconduct” with an 18-year-old male student during the 2015-16 school year.
A male military instructor had “private meetings” with a female 12th grader about “personal matters.” The student told the instructor she had romantic feelings for him, but it’s unclear when this occurred. The two exchanged “thousands” of communications after the student graduated in 2019. The instructor also failed to report that another teacher had “inappropriate reactions with the former student.”
A second military instructor “made sexually harassing comments” to a female 12th grader on three occasions and confronted the student after she complained. The instructor also engaged in private cellphone communications with multiple students, which is against CPS policy.
A third military instructor “frequently” texted, messaged and called students, though some of this conduct occurred before CPS revised its policy to prohibit cellphone communication between staff members and students. The instructor also discussed personal matters with a female student and purchased food for her and “several” other female students who ate lunch in his classroom.
The former principal, two security officers and two teachers failed to report knowledge of or information about inappropriate interactions between staff members and students.

Three adults remain under investigation for inappropriate personal relationships with students, but “we don’t have evidence of sexual abuse,” Martinez said. All staff members have been removed from Marine Leadership Academy, he said, with the district requesting the Illinois State Board of Education “pull their licenses.”
“Taking action against these specific employees is a necessary start, but a greater goal must be to create a culture for every CPS school and every statewide school … where students can report a situation having full confidence that they will be supported and the adults around them will take the required action as mandatory reporters,” Martinez said.
In a statement, the Chicago Teachers Union said it has “zero tolerance for sexual misconduct” and denounced “lack of action” at Marine Leadership Academy following a 2018 Chicago Tribune investigation that found CPS failed to protect students from sexual abuse and assault.
“Issues at Marine surfaced when school community members brought concerns about a toxic school culture to school administration, yet instead of taking action, the now-removed principal was promoted,” CTU said in its statement.
Erin Galfer — who served as principal of Marine Leadership Academy before being named deputy chief of the CPS Office of College and Career Success over the summer — was recently fired, Martinez said.
Through her attorney, Galfer said she was “wrongly terminated” and that CPS “long knew about the misconduct and did not take timely steps to protect the students.”
The inspector general’s office said it shared with CPS departments a list of “employees who were alleged to have known about the abuse and failed to report,” including the principal, in April 2019.
Martinez, who began as CEO on Sept. 29, said he was “made aware” on Oct. 20 that Inspector General Will Fletcher was nearing the end of his investigation. CPS officials said the inquiry was sparked by an anonymous report in 2019. Martinez blamed the length of the investigation on insufficient staffing in the inspector general’s office and a “significant backlog of cases,” two issues he says have improved.
Martinez expressed frustration that even though accused Marine Leadership Academy employees were pulled from the school, they were kept on the district’s payroll because “I could not take any action against these staff until the investigations were closed.”
CPS’ Office of the Inspector General said it had 322 active investigations districtwide and had “substantially completed” investigation of an additional 106 cases as of Oct. 31. Thirteen of those cases involve a formal complaint of adult-to-student sexual harassment, according to the inspector general’s office.
The office said it plans to report on additional policy violations and “systematic and cultural problems” at Marine Leadership Academy “in the near future.”
Martinez also lamented that because the students who allegedly engaged in the sexual relationships with teachers were 18 years old, “these will be cases that will be very difficult to prosecute.” The inspector general’s office said it contacted the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services at least 22 times about allegations tied to the school and collaborated with the Chicago Police Department, but no criminal charges came about “for various reasons outside the control of CPS and the OIG.”
Martinez said he is confident Marine Leadership Academy’s new principal, Kristin Novy, will rebuild trust with families. Novy told students in a letter Friday that CPS’ behavioral health team is offering counseling at the school, which is also participating in a program to help staff members, students and parents recognize the signs of unhealthy relationships and prevent instances of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior.
The Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center will hold sessions for parents to learn strategies for how to keep students safe in these situations, Novy wrote.
Marine Leadership Academy, which is affiliated with the U.S. Marine Corps JROTC program, serves 775 students in grades 7 through 12, according to CPS records.
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