The Chicago Public Schools Inspector General's (CPS) annual report reveals that millions of dollars worth of high-tech equipment has been reported lost or stolen “without adequate search and recovery efforts.”
CPS schools reported 77,505 high-tech devices lost or stolen during the 2021-22 school year, a total that was originally The purchase price was well over $23 million.
The findings, the result of the borough's first post-COVID-19 inventory, say the numbers are “unacceptably high” and the monitoring process requires a “serious review”. It has said.
The report said missing items included laptops, iPads, Wi-Fi hotspots, printers, document cameras and interactive whiteboards.
“Inventory data showed that in 34 schools, 100 percent of high-tech equipment specifically assigned to students was lost or stolen,” the district's report said.
During the same school year, CPS spent more than $124 million on “technology assets,” the highest amount in the past five academic years, according to the report.
In a statement to Fox News, CPS said, “While some level of terminal loss is expected in a district of our size, we remain concerned about the loss of public assets.” “His CPS team at our company will work to streamline our systems for tracking resources, including devices, while ensuring compliance with board policies.”
The district's statement added that it is working to change processes, strengthen systems and hold school leaders accountable for asset management policies.
“In a district where more than 72 percent of our students come from economically disadvantaged families, it is critical that we consider families when conducting device collection efforts,” the statement said.
CPS said that due to depreciation, the current value of the devices mentioned in the OIG report is likely $2.5 million, the majority of which are “more than five years old,” and as of Monday. It added that more than 12,000 of the 77,000 devices cited were outdated. Recovered.
“It's just a waste (and) That is what our office is here to address and that is what we are doing,” CPS Inspector General Will Fletcher told WGN-TV. “Our investigation uncovered an incident in which a brother and sister lost nine to 10 devices at school (and) we also have records of the district contacting families to let them know this was an issue. There are no signs.'' Try to understand what happened. ”
