Late last year, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s handpicked school board fired Martinez without cause after he refused to take out a $300 million loan to cover the cost of a new teachers’ contract — but he remained on the job for the last six months, as dictated by his contract.

Martinez on Thursday reflected on his time as Chicago’s schools chief during what will be his final monthly meeting of the Board of Education before he exits to take over as Massachusetts’ next school board commissioner.

The Chicago Board of Education this week announced a series of public meetings to be held over the coming days in order to “engage the public in shaping the future of Chicago Public Schools.”

Bogdana Chkoumbova, who was named the district’s chief education officer in 2022, has spent more than two decades in CPS, beginning as a teacher before moving on to become a principal, network chief and eventually one of the top district leaders.

The 21-member board voted to approve the deal during its monthly meeting at Chicago Public Schools’ Loop office Thursday — the last step necessary to finalize the new labor agreement.

The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted 9-0 in favor of selecting the embattled CPS chief from a pool of three finalists to become the state’s next Department of Elementary and Secondary Education commissioner.

The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on Tuesday announced Martinez as one of three finalists for the job as its next commissioner. He and the other candidates will each interview for that role Thursday in a public meeting before the board.

Wednesday’s vote comes two days after the union announced it had reached a tentative agreement with Chicago Public Schools following nearly a year of bargaining.

CTU leaders called the four-year deal a “historic achievement” that represents the fulfillment of promises Mayor Brandon Johnson made to transform CPS into a school district that offers a well-rounded education to every Chicago child and security to its employees.

CTU on Friday confirmed the union’s big bargaining team will meet Monday afternoon to weigh the potential deal.

The decision to delay the vote is an acknowledgment that budget amendment does not have the support of at least 14 of the 21 CPS board members.

“None of these issues that they need to settle will be worth the consequence of six, seven days or how many ever days out of school,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

“That is the last thing that students and families need,” CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said of a possible teachers strike, “and given how close our teams are to an agreement, we see no reason for such a drastic step.”

The immediate challenges facing the new school board members are enormous: They must ink a new deal with the teachers union, pick a new leader and confront the threat posed by President-elect Donald Trump’s promises to deport thousands of undocumented Chicagoans.

Just days before Christmas, Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez was terminated in a unanimous vote by Mayor Brandon Johnson’s handpicked Board of Education.

The Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools still have not reached a contract deal. Meanwhile, the CPS Board of Education’s publicly elected members will be sworn in this week, and the district will be on the search for a new leader since the current board fired CEO Pedro Martinez.