ISBE Step‑3 sanctions read aloud at CPS meeting; district to implement enhanced oversight for Instituto charter

Chicago Public Schools publicly read an Illinois State Board of Education Step‑3 enforcement letter on Dec. 18 detailing repeated special‑education noncompliance at Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy, a CPS‑authorized charter.

Josh Long, chief of the CPS Office for Students with Disabilities, told the board that ISBE opened a systemic complaint into Instituto on July 10, 2023 and issued initial findings on Aug. 22, 2023. ISBE’s step‑3 letter, Long said, requires the district to notify the board publicly and to implement intensified oversight because corrective actions ordered in earlier steps were not completed.

The ISBE findings, as read into the record, cited multiple areas of ongoing noncompliance at Instituto: failure to convene annual IEP meetings within regulatory timelines; insufficient documentation showing the use of scientifically‑based interventions; failure to provide direct speech and language services and compensatory education for students owed services; lack of paraprofessional services required by IEPs; and special‑education class sizes that exceeded allowable limits. The letter also indicated that some students had missed extended spans of required services.

Long said ISBE ordered the district to develop and immediately implement an oversight plan for the 2025‑26 school year that includes a regular cadence of biweekly check‑ins between Instituto and the district and monthly on‑site monitoring visits focused on compensatory speech and language minutes, paraprofessional scheduling and IEP meeting scheduling.

Representatives from Instituto who spoke during public participation acknowledged the seriousness of the letter and described efforts to rebuild their special‑education staff and systems. Dr. Desi Merrick, a special‑education teacher at Instituto, said the school has been rebuilding staffing and systems, and called continued board support essential to maintain progress. Jacqueline Gransard, the school social worker speaking on behalf of the principal, said that core roles are being filled and that the school was “now currently at a 100% compliance for IEPs, annuals, and 504s” in her account, while acknowledging the ISBE findings reflected past failures.

Why it matters: ISBE Step‑3 is an escalated enforcement action that required public reading of the sanction and triggers intensified monitoring. The findings relate directly to whether students with disabilities received services to which they were entitled.

What’s next: CPS said it will implement the oversight plan ordered by ISBE and monitor Instituto into the 2025‑26 school year; ISBE extended monitoring into 2026 per the letter read into the record.

Sources: Reading of ISBE Step‑3 letter by Josh Long at the Chicago Board of Education meeting on Dec. 18; subsequent remarks from Instituto staff during public participation.