IHSA says CPS Sports should continue to govern itself, despite inspector general's revelations

The Chicago Public Schools Office of Inspector General revealed on Wednesday that Kenwood fraudulently enrolled at least 17 boys basketball players during three years under former coach Mike Irvin.

The Illinois High School Association, which received some evidence of the fraud from the IG nearly a year ago, received a more detailed report on the Kenwood investigation on Tuesday.

IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson says he’s still reviewing the report and “could levy additional penalties should any new IHSA by-law violations be revealed.”

Anderson also said that he believes all current Kenwood boys basketball players meet the IHSA attendance bylaws to attend and play at Kenwood.

Currently, the IHSA allows CPS to police itself. The IG’s report, released on Wednesday morning, stated that CPS Sports Administration was “unable and unwilling to fulfill its oversight responsibilities” and that CPS “must fundamentally reform how it oversees and regulates high school sports.”

However, Anderson told the Sun-Times on Wednesday that the IHSA should not take over the oversight of CPS sports.

“The ability for Chicago Public Schools to provide self-governance of certain IHSA by-laws is a right currently granted by IHSA by-laws,” Anderson said. “Any change in that process would need to be initiated by the IHSA membership. I am not lobbying for such a change at this time, and will continue to look for ways to better educate and support the Chicago Public Schools Office of Sports Administration and the administrators at our CPS member high schools to help ensure their compliance with IHSA rules.”

According to the report, Kenwood and CPS Sports Administration failed to provide any meaningful oversight during the three years.

Many of the Kenwood player files were missing residency documents. One student’s file contained fake documents dated after the student’s enrollment date. Another had documents listing a suburban address.

There was no evidence that home visits were completed for any of the players. One member of Kenwood’s staff said the school had never seen a basketball player’s enrollment materials.

Kenwood Principal Karen Calloway was a member of the IHSA Board of Directors and CPS Sports Administration’s advisory council. The investigation’s evidence showed that Calloway “had ample reason to be suspicious about the fraudulent enrollment of basketball players at the school, yet failed to take action or report it.”

When reached Tuesday, Calloway told the Sun-Times she would have to go through CPS to make any comments. A CPS spokesperson sent the Sun-Times this statement on Wednesday:

“Chicago Public Schools remains committed to upholding all District policies and procedures as well as state and federal laws to best serve our students, families and greater CPS community. CPS appreciates the work of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and takes all findings and recommendations seriously. As a system of more than 40,000 employees serving more than 320,000 students, we remain committed to proactively and comprehensively training our valued employees and vendors to adhere to all policies and procedures, and to then enforce all policies, rules and laws, and implement discipline as required under law and in accordance with the highest ethical standards.”