Monday, October 3, 2016

Teacher Trash Investigated

CPS Investigating Teacher for Stealing Garbage
By Jim Vail
Mychinews.com



Schurz High School gym teacher Jorge Perez

Jorge Perez is a gym teacher at Schurz High School on the Northwest side who wanted to make art out of garbage.

Today he is being investigated by the Chicago Public Schools for removing what the school determined was junk.

He told Chicago News that he noticed there were old chalkboards that were about to be thrown out early last school year, so he informed some teachers and administrators at the beginning of last year that he would like to take those old boards to his house.

He arrived with his pickup last April on a Saturday morning to haul the boards away, he said. He thought he was doing a good deed.

“They were an eyesore in the classroom,” he said. “They still needed to be thrown away, as well as old printers and monitors.”

Perez said his problem was not informing the school about the exact date that he would pick up the old chalkboards.

When he entered the school he set off an alarm unexpectedly, and was then questioned by two police officers about what he was removing from the school. The alarm not only alerted the police, but the network office that oversees Schurz High School.

That’s when Perez’s simple quest to create beauty out of junk became a nightmare.

After Perez told the officers that he was a teacher and was just removing an old discarded chalkboard, he got a phone call from his assistant principal Debra Neiman who questioned him about the incident and whether or not he had permission. Neiman told him to return the “CPS property,” which Perez said he promptly did.

He was then subjected to a bizarre interrogation in which he watched a video tape of his alleged offense with the administration, who periodically freeze framed a shot and said it looked like he was removing whiteboards, which he made clear and the evidence showed he did not, Perez said.

“I didn’t know what she was getting at,” Perez said. “She showed the boards in the sun and said those are whiteboards and we go back and forth like children. Blackboards. Whiteboards. I said you’re calling me a liar. Then I went back to class.”

Perez added that the video clearly showed that he took chalkboards and not whiteboards that he was accused of.

At the end of the week, Perez was confronted by five or six officers who handcuffed him in school and told him he was being arrested for theft and trespassing.

The gym teacher at the school on Milwaukee, who also coaches track, was issued an I-bond after spending eight hours in the police station, he said.

The theft and trespassing charges were dismissed by the city. However, the five-year teacher is still sitting in a network office, collecting his regular salary while CPS continues to investigate.

Over the summer just before the new school year about 1,000 teachers and teacher aides were fired due to budget cuts and enrollment. There were twelve teachers at Schurz High School layed off. Perez was not one of them.

He continues to sit in a room since May 9th doing nothing all day with two other teachers who are also being investigated on “far more serious offenses,” one for alleged drunkenness, and another for child abuse while separating an altercation.
It’s been about 137 days sitting in what some have referred to as the rubber room in New York.

I wrote in 2014 in Secondcityteachers.blogspot.com, a blog I edit about Chicago public school teachers, about the former Lane Tech High School girls swim coach who was falsely accused of inappropriate relations with one of his swimmers. Even though the swim coach was found not guilty of having a sexual relationship with a female swimmer, CPS kept him in the network office while conducting its own internal investigation.

And it wasn’t until after the media reports and parents went to the Chicago Board of Education to demand that their coach and teacher return to the school, that CPS then decided to reinstate the Lane Tech teacher, although with an agreement that he no longer coach the swim team.

Perez’s case is well-known amongst the students at Schurz who commented and speculated about his removal on Facebook. The comments have been overwhelmingly in support of their gym teacher and coach. “Plus you were a favorite,” one wrote. “If it had been anybody else not many would have even payed attention but since everybody knew you …”

Rumors also circulated online that Perez was in jail. The students started a thread entitled #freePerez “Free my previous Teacher. One of the best Physical Teachers Ever.” Another wrote: “I honestly wish you the best. And I seriously wish you come back … I miss you so very much. And I’m not the only one who misses you.”

Some of the teachers who have been investigated speculate that CPS keeps teachers accused of a serious infraction but are short on proof to sit for a long time doing nothing in the hope that the accused teacher will resign.  

Already, according to Perez, one of those teachers who was sitting with him in the investigation room - which could be compared to jail before being convicted or exonerated - has resigned.

Perez said he was questioned by a detective working for CPS who told him his case was silly and he shouldn’t worry.


Except, Perez is still sitting, and waiting for CPS to make up its mind, on what many would consider a silly charge. 

28 comments:

  1. Some non-sense. They are wasting a professional's time, and a lot of city money to keep a teacher away from his job.

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  2. This is why i hate my school, i wish i wasn't in schurz anymore

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  3. Mr.Perez was an excellent teacher as for Debra Nieman she's bitter and I feel like she just was out to get him and she pounced on the first opportunity she got

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    1. Why did he go into a close building to take things? That who I want as a teachers

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    2. i work there. i know teachers go there and do extra work on Saturdays.

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  4. Mr.Perez was an excellent teacher as for Debra Nieman she's bitter and I feel like she just was out to get him and she pounced on the first opportunity she got

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  5. With the amount of talent and resources Debra Nieman is waisting she probably could have bought quite a few chalk boards. She needs to swallow her pride and admit she was wrong. It's hard enough to find good teachers now a days. Schurz needs to ulilize and hold on to Mr. Perez, not punish him for such a petty misunderstanding.

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    1. I just read the article and Mr Perez admits to taking stuff that belonged to the school. How does that make Nieman bitter? Why are you turning this into a issue about Nieman?

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    2. Not sure what the point of this article was - Is Perez mad that he got in trouble for breaking into the school or is upset that Neiman was doing her job?

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    3. Doing her job!?....You are correct. It is her job. That lady sure has the right set of priorities!!!! LOL NICE JOB

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  6. Debra Nieman is the reason Schurz sucks. She thinks she is in charge. Well no one likes her. Not even her 2 dogs.

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    1. I love her and she is what makes Schurz great!

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    2. Well you're obviously Debra then. Have you seen facebook? People do not seem to like her.

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    3. "Stealing garbage"...What a nice accusation (sarcasm). CPS never really investigates anything; CPS Inspector General Office is a Big Joke!

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  7. This is ridiculous. Perez is a great guy who was just trying to help out the school and the community... If people really think that he had any intention of stealing or doing something bad just ask the kids that he's with every single day what they think about him. It seems that he's had a positive impact on all of them.. He is personally my track coach at Niles West High School. He drives all the way out to the suburbs just to coach me and my teammates because it's what he loves doing and wants to make a difference. Please make the right decision here CPS.

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  8. Debra Neiman is the one who needs to be investigated by CPS. Her corrupt, abusive, and incompetent behavior has been tearing Schurz apart for years. I feel sorry for the many great people who work in that building have to suffer daily because someone of such low character is in power. Only in CPS could an authority figure act the way she does and hold a job for so long. Truly a sad situation.

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    1. Anyone keeping track of how many people Neiman has run out of the building?

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  9. Perez is, without a doubt, one of the most hardworking, kind hearted guys I know. He just wanted to fix up some broken boards that were going to be thrown away anyways. He always fixes and builds things. He even built a homemade camera cart to run along side the kids running track to help them with their form and such. He's my track coach at Niles west and he always gives 110% into everything he does no matter what it is. He is actually a person I look up to in life and if I'm going through a tough time, Perez is always the first person there to help me out. He would never steal anything that didn't belong to him. Free Perez man this ain't right

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  12. Neiman is not in charge of CPS. She is not in charge of CPD. She is not in charge of Network 1. She is not in charge of the security cameras in the building or the alarm system that was tripped that day. She is not in charge of the officers who showed up at the building after NEIGHBORS had reported seeing someone TRYING MANY DIFFERENT DOORS TO THE SCHOOL TRYING TO GET IN!!! She has bosses herself. Seriously?? She's the problem??? When anyone needs anything she gets it done for us!!! Sheesh!

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    1. Really? What is she in charge of ...? I guess she makes money just to take care of her two dogs, right? How about the job like cleaning houses (no responsibility), right?
      She is an A.P. at Schurz H.S. She actually has the "power" to arrest people or defend them. Poor choices bite in the ....!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    2. " When anyone needs anything she gets it done for us!!! Sheesh!"- She does it for you, right? :))))

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  13. I'm new to Chicago and don't know much about CPS. That being said, the city dismissed the charges against Perez and he returned the "stolen property." I don't see the point of keeping him away from his work, and using tax money to do so. I'd be interested to learn what exactly is happening in this internal investigation, if anything at all.

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  14. Most trash removal services charge varying fees depending on the size of the job. Some companies charge by volume, which means the more garbage the cheaper the price. Others may add charges for loading large objects such as couches or for disposing of special materials like hazardous waste products.trash removal

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