Chicago principal barred from jail school over false data

CHICAGO – A Chicago Public Schools principal has been barred from an alternative high school operating in the Cook County Jail following allegations that she falsified student data.

Sheriff Tom Dart issued the ban Wednesday, saying he agrees with a report by the CPS inspector general that recommended Sharnette Sims be fired. He said starting Thursday, Sims won't be allowed to enter the jail.

In the report, Nicholas Schuler called York Alternative High School "a credit mill."

Schuler says York routinely granted attendance and course credit to students who had left the jail or been moved to solitary confinement where they couldn't attend classes. One student who was released from jail and killed a week later was still listed as attending classes.

Sims didn't respond to requests for comment Tuesday or Wednesday.