Timothy King, founder of Urban Prep Academies
CHICAGO - Timothy King, the founder and former president of Chicago's renowned Urban Prep charter school, who has claimed he was railroaded out of his post at the top of the school amid a sham investigation into "wild accusations," has won a new chance to contest his removal.
Last month, a Cook County judge ruled Chicago Public Schools did not provide King with sufficient due process to defend himself against the charges before ousting him, as the judge said there remains open legal questions over how CPS conducted the investigation.
The ruling by Cook County Judge Eve M. Reilly centered on questions over which version of Title IX regulations CPS should have used to guide the investigation and ultimate decision on King's fate.
Specifically, the judge said CPS may have wrongly determined that, because the events that gave rise to the allegations against King allegedly occurred in 2011, that they should use Title IX regulations from that time to guide the investigation that began in 2021 - and not the updated regulations that took effect in 2020, which would have given King a greater ability to defeat the charges.
"That CPS decided to afford Plaintiff (King) less due process than Title IX provided at the time of the investigation against him bares negatively on the investigation's integrity and the fundamental rationale underlying due process rights," Reilly wrote in her Oct. 29 ruling.
"In other words, if the legislature has determined that more process is due, then it is due for everyone. Anyone investigated after that date should be afforded those protections and processes which the legislature has determined they are due regardless of when the conduct occurred."
King has been in court against CPS since the fall of 2022, when the former Urban Prep chief executive filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court against CPS, the Chicago Board of Education and CPS' Inspector General's office.
King has been represented in the action by attorney Andrew R. DeVooght and others with the firm of Loeb & Loeb, of Chicago.
King founded Urban Prep in 2003, growing the network from one public charter school in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood to three currently. Urban Prep has been lauded for years for its success in helping young males, primarily from the predominantly Black communities on Chicago's South Side, to succeed academically. Urban Prep has consistently been recognized for sending 100% of their students to college, according to published reports.
However, King resigned as head of Urban Prep in August 2021 after the CPS Inspector General issued a report purportedly corroborating misconduct accusations against King by a former Urban Prep student and employee. Specifically, King was accused of sexual misconduct and an inappropriate relationship with a former student, identified in court documents solely as I.D.
King and his attorneys, however, have said he was the target of a "kangaroo" investigation, designed to ultimately use the allegations to force him to resign from his longtime post at the top of Urban Prep Academies.
According to a report published in August 2021 by WBEZ, sources allegedly told WBEZ reporters that the CPS report indicated King “groomed” the student, beginning at the age of 16, leading to “years of alleged inappropriate sexual activity.” The report also allegedly indicated King provided money and support to the student after graduation.
King has consistently denied all of the accusations, and vowed he would take to the courts to resume his role within the Urban Prep organization. He has specifically claimed he was railroaded as a scapegoat amid a slew of embarrassing revelations related to CPS' handling of sexual abuse allegations under Title IX that triggered an investigation and enforcement action from the U.S. Department of Education beginning in 2018.
Those revelations were first reported as the result of an investigation by the Chicago Tribune.
Following King's removal, the remaining executives at Urban Prep also fought in court against attempts by CPS to shut down Urban Prep entirely and seize control of the school, citing, in part, the school's alleged failure to properly respond to the alleged accusations against King.
Meanwhile, King has continued his legal action against CPS, asserting CPS' investigation of the allegations was conducted unfairly and in violation of his rights under Title IX, as well as in violation of CPS' own procedures.
Particularly, he has claimed CPS refused to allow him to defend himself or participate in the disciplinary process.
In later filings in court, King has accused CPS of applying the wrong Title IX regulations when investigating the claims.
Title IX of the federal Civil Rights Act governs how schools are to handle claims of sex-based discrimination, including allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault leveled by students against teachers, school administrators or other students.
King noted the investigation of the claims first dated to 2011 began in 2021.
However, in 2020, the federal government updated Title IX regulations specifically to give those accused of such misconduct greater opportunities to defend themselves. Under the 2020 regulations, Reilly noted CPS would have been required to provide King with "specific notice of the allegations against him, investigation status updates every ninety days, the ability to submit questions to witnesses, a copy of the investigative report prior to its completion, the opportunity to file written response to the evidence, and a process to appeal any decision made against him."
In response, CPS argued King was wrongly requiring CPS to retroactively apply the 2020 regulations to an investigation of alleged misconduct which allegedly occurred in 2011.
In her ruling, however, Reilly said CPS was arguing the wrong question.
She noted neither lawmakers nor courts which hold authority over Illinois' state courts have addressed the question directly.
However, Reilly pointed to a decision from a New York federal court, which addressed similar timing questions and essentially ruled schools cannot pick and choose which sets of regulations they wish to apply to investigations.
In this instance, Reilly said, that reasoning led her to conclude the district had erred in applying the pre-2020 regulations to the investigation which began in 2021.
"... This Court agrees that the issue of whether to apply the 2020 Title IX amendments to an investigation occurring in 2021 does not implicate retroactivity concerns," Reilly wrote. "Applying the 2020 procedures to a 2021 investigation is applying the 2020 Title IX amendments prospectively."
Further, Reilly noted King had informed the court that he had obtained "new evidence" in the case, including a sworn affidavit from the former student, I.D., in which "the former student recants all statements made against" King.
In her decision, Reilly tossed out CPS' administrative rulings against King, and ordered the school district to restart the investigation, while giving King full opportunities to present his new evidence and defend himself against the allegations.
Reilly noted she was not delivered a decision on that evidence, or any other evidence in the case.
The judge said she "thus is not determining today that a finding should or should not have been made against Plaintiff. That is a determination for a later time when Plaintiff has been afforded the process he is due under the law and CPS has had an opportunity to consider all of the evidence, including the former student's affidavit recanting all allegations against Plaintiff."
