Some Chicago schools inflated student attendance, report charges

Administrators at four Chicago public high schools inflated annual student attendance rates over the last four years by systematically falsifying daily attendance records, according to a school system inspector general report.

"The schools engineered the appearance of significantly improved attendance rates," Inspector General Nicholas Schuler said in the report.

The schools boosted annual attendance rates by about 10 to 20 percentage points. While the report discovered the alleged fraud for different time periods at the schools, the earliest it found problems was the 2012-2013 school year, the latest 2015-2016.

The report comes as officials with the Chicago public school system touts record-high 2016 attendance rates. Inspector General NichoSchuler recommends firing two principals: Tyese Sims, former principal at Orr High School and now at Bradwell Elementary, and Trista Harper, Manley High School principal. Neither returned calls for comment.

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