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Good morning! Reema Amin here with our top story.

Last summer, as CPS tried to close a $734 million budget deficit, it announced plans to lay off hundreds of private custodians.

Then, this past November, CPS asked schools how it’s going. Lots of complaints came in: Most of the surveyed principals said they didn’t have enough custodial staff to meet their needs, and most custodians signaled that they’re struggling to manage their workloads, according to a survey I got through the Freedom of Information Act.

The results are a window into the challenge of keeping schools clean this school year and beyond.

And in other news, a $20,000 Chicago Board of Education investigation into a media leak yielded no findings, my colleague Mila reports.

Local News

Chicago Public Schools cut hundreds of custodian jobs last year. Staff say their schools are dirtier.

The survey came a couple of months after the district cut hundreds of custodians and moved away from private custodial services.

A Chicago school board investigation failed to uncover source of media leaks

Earlier this year, the board president enlisted a law firm to investigate who had leaked information about CEO search finalists and a special board meeting to consider raising a property tax levy. The firm’s final report released late Thursday said there was not enough evidence.

Chicago Public Schools campus budget could bring cuts amid massive deficit

District officials say they are trying to keep any cuts away from classrooms as they gear up to release school budgets next week. But given CPS’ significant deficit, avoiding reductions to school budgets likely would not be possible.