CPS considers automatic ban on school deals for businesses barred from getting city contracts

The newly seated Chicago Board of Education is set to vote on its inspector general’s plan to close a loophole that allows hiring companies City Hall or sister agencies have banned.

The newly seated Chicago Board of Education will vote Wednesday on a proposal to block companies that have been banned from getting business by City Hall or other city agencies from getting work from the Chicago Public Schools system.

CPS Inspector General Nicholas Schuler is recommending the contracting ban.

It would prevent “engaging in business relations with dishonest, unethical or otherwise irresponsible individuals,” according to CPS documents prepared in advance of Wednesday’s Board of Ed meeting.

How many CPS contractors and subcontractors would be automatically dumped under the move isn’t clear. CPS spokesman Michael Passman wouldn’t make anyone available Monday to discuss the proposal, which would take effect July 1 if approved.

CPS has kept a list since 2009 of companies — now number about 130 — that it has banned from getting contracts with the school system.

City Hall, which has a much larger banned-contractors list, automatically disqualifies companies that “any other government agency” has excluded. The Chicago Transit Authority does the same.