Chicago School Board Member Rivas Scrutinized Over 2018 Work Suspension

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters. CHICAGO — Less than a week before Election Day, school board member Carlos Rivas is facing criticism for a 2018 incident in which records show he was disciplined for excessive drinking and unwanted touching of a colleague while working at UIC College Prep, a Noble charter high school on the Near West Side. Rivas was elected in 2024 to represent District 3, which has now been divided into 3a and 3b. He is running for reelection in District 3b, which covers Humboldt Park and Hermosa, against Jason Dónes, who works at an education nonprofit. This year, voters are electing all 21 members of the school board after a two-year period in which 11 were still appointed by the mayor. The revelations about Rivas’ past conduct surfaced this week in campaign mailers funded by Our Schools PAC, which is heavily funded by the Chicago Teachers Union and is backing Dónes. The Chicago Sun-Times