ROSCOE VILLAGE — A Chicago Public Schools investigation found that a Lane Tech alumnus was involved in a sweetheart deal that allowed him to sell more than $240,000 in gym and sports uniforms to the school without a bidding process.
That alum also ran the school's booster program, which the report said was allowed to pocket $83,000 in cash receipts from sporting events from 2005 to 2011, when "the arrangement ended and the booster club paid back" just over $11,000.
The allegation, in the most recent annual report issued Friday by CPS Inspector General James Sullivan, did not name the alumnus nor the school.
According to sources, however, the description fits events at Lane Tech, where alumnus Tony Chronis owned a company that provided uniforms and also ran the Lane Tech Football Booster Club.
The no-bid arrangement was a violation of CPS procurement rules.
According to the report, the school bought $59,000 in uniforms from the company in 2010, $89,000 in 2011 and $95,000 in 2012, often in increments "regularly and deliberately kept below $10,000 to avoid bidding requirements."
According to the report, the school also hired the alum's nephew as a physical education teacher, identified as George Stavrakas, who also coached the girls' softball team for nine years.
Former principal Antoinette Lobosco left the school in 2012, and the report said she was "designated ineligible to be rehired." It added that "disciplinary sanctions" against the alum and his company are "pending."
Sources also said new principal Christopher Dignam, a Lane alum, had acknowledged the charges to staff and "cleaned house" upon taking the top position in 2012.
Chronis could not be reached for comment.
