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Chicago Public Schools

Academic, Operational & Administrative Performance Assessment (2013–2015)

Executive Summary

RBG led a state-directed, system-wide operational and data governance restructuring for Chicago Public Schools, stabilizing enterprise operations, remediating massive records backlogs, and modernizing compliance and governance frameworks across the district.

The Challenge

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) required a comprehensive, state-directed organizational restructuring and operational review to address:

  • Fragmented and inefficient enterprise operations across finance, real estate, transportation, food services, records, and data management

  • Significant backlogs of unprocessed records from closed schools and active student systems

  • Outdated and non-standardized records retention policies and compliance frameworks

  • The need for executive-level, system-wide operational and data-driven transformation

  • A mandate from the State to conduct a full-scale turnaround and restructuring initiative

CPS required a partner capable of operating across the entire enterprise, not just within one department.

Our Role

RBG, in conjunction with Global Workplace Solutions, was engaged to deliver executive-level turnaround, restructuring, and operational advisory services, including:

  • Providing enterprise-wide executive management and operational analysis across:

    • Finance and Accounting

    • Budgeting

    • Real Estate and Asset Management

    • Transportation Services

    • Food Services

    • Records Management and Data Analytics

  • Leading large-scale records processing and remediation, including:

    • Processing 12,240 boxes of inactive records from 68 closed schools

    • Processing 2,000+ active student record sets

    • Processing 350,000+ operational records across multiple record series

  • Designing and implementing a comprehensive Records Retention Schedule overhaul, including:

    • Research and validation of retention and disposition periods

    • Compliance and regulatory statute alignment

    • Full lifecycle records governance framework

    • Training the CPS Records Administrator on the new standards

  • Delivering data-driven restructuring analysis to support system-wide operational transformation

The Outcome

  • Successfully remediated hundreds of thousands of records, restoring operational control and compliance

  • Eliminated major records backlogs from closed and active schools

  • Implemented a modernized, compliant Records Retention and Governance framework

  • Strengthened CPS’s enterprise data governance, compliance posture, and operational transparency

  • Delivered executive-level insight into enterprise operations, assets, and service delivery systems

  • Established a stronger foundation for long-term operational efficiency and governance

Capabilities Applied

  • Turnaround & Restructuring

  • Data & Records Management

  • Real Estate & Asset Management

  • Financial & Operational Analysis

  • Compliance & Governance

  • Enterprise Operations Management

  • Education Systems Transformation

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