Education

Hilario Dominguez, Candidate for CPS Board President, Defends Conduct as Watchdog Reopens Probe Into Inappropriate Behavior Allegations

Hilario Dominguez, a candidate for president of the Chicago Board of Education, says he has met with Chicago Public Schools’ internal watchdog, which is revisiting nearly decade-old allegations that he acted inappropriately with a high school student.

Dominguez on Tuesday denied the allegations, saying he spoke with the CPS Office of Inspector General (OIG) and intends to “actively participate” in any investigation into his alleged comments with a student while working at the Resurrection Project nonprofit.

“At no point have I done anything inappropriate,” he said at a press conference Tuesday evening. “I sat down with the OIG and now I will tell you, I am not someone to speak on someone else’s agency, but as I said, my parents raised me to not let someone else step on my name.”

CPS Inspector General Philip Wagenknecht confirmed to WTTW News that the investigation is open, but declined to comment further on any pending matters.

Dominguez — the former deputy political director of the Chicago Teachers Union — is one of three candidates running to become the Chicago Board of Education’s first-ever elected president.

He’s earned the support of both the CTU and Mayor Brandon Johnson, himself a former teacher and CTU organizer.

“I do support Hilario Dominguez,” Johnson said at a Wednesday news conference, adding that he and Dominguez “share values as it relates to our Chicago Public Schools,” specifically in their opposition to school closures and backing of sustainable community schools.

The mayor didn’t comment on the nature of the allegations Wednesday, but with the election just weeks away, he said Wagenknecht’s office has “an additional duty and responsibility to have those answers before the public with great urgency.”

The reopening of the investigation was first reported last week by the Chicago Tribune.

The woman who made the allegations against Dominguez has remained anonymous, but has spoken publicly with both the Chicago Tribune and NBC 5 Chicago.

In those interviews, she said her allegations stem from 2017, when she was 17 years old and participating in the Resurrection Project’s summer program where Dominguez was working as a coordinator.

She claimed that on one occasion, Dominguez was driving her to an event when he began asking her “what kind of guys are you into,” according to her interviews. In a second interaction, Dominguez approached her at the Resurrection Project’s office and allegedly grabbed her by the waist, picking her up off the ground and pressing the girl’s entire body up against his.

“This has been really hard and it’s been really uncomfortable,” the woman told NBC 5 Chicago in an interview Tuesday.

Dominguez on Tuesday said he already “confronted these rumors” in 2019 by an opponent while running to become alderperson of Chicago’s 25th Ward.

Dominguez said his superiors never “reprimanded, disciplined or talked to” him about his behavior while at the Resurrection Project, and that the nonprofit already investigated and determined the allegations to be unfounded.

“This is more than just about my career, this is about how I hold up my head in a city that raised me,” he said. “And how I uphold the morals that were taught to me by my parents.”

Dominguez is running against Jessica Biggs and Victor Henderson. The election will be held Nov. 3.

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WTTW News education reporting is supported, in part, by Press Forward Chicago.

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