Each Chicago school board president candidate has controversies in their past; this is what they are

As Chicago prepares to elect its school board president for the first time, each of the three candidates have controversies they need to explain.

CBS News Chicago sat down with Jessica Biggs, Hilario Dominguez and Victor Henderson to ask them directly about these controversies, and to hear what they had to say.

Hilario Dominguez, a former teacher and former deputy political director for the Chicago Teachers Union, faced sexual misconduct allegations. A then-17-year-old woman claimed he asked questions about her dating life when she was alone with him.

"Those 10-year-old allegations have been looked at four times, and each time they've concluded the same thing: unfounded and unsubstantiated," he said.

We also asked if there's an issue that an inspector general under the umbrella of Chicago Public Schools is investigating an allegation about something that happened within CPS.

"Well, the OIG reopened the case, which it doesn't normally do, and then spoke out publicly on a case, which its own policies say it doesn't," Dominguez said. "And so, at the end of the day, they did what they had to do. We participated fully in it, and for the fourth time in 10 years we were cleared again. And now it's time to move on and talk about what's really important here: the issues."

Biggs was previously fired from her role as a CPD principal in 2018.

"The district chose to try to save some money on the backs of our students with disabilities," she said. "And that was deeply inequitable across the system. And again, I stood up and I spoke out."

At the time, the District Inspector General found that Biggs may have falsified attendance data and sent school staff to pick up and drop off students against CPS policy. She was placed on the CPS do-not-hire list until recently. Her name was removed last year.

"That was a really incomplete investigation," Biggs said. "I have always contended that my removal was unjust. I fought back against it. And I am very proud that I am no longer on that list."

The final candidate, CPA lawyer and CPS parent Victor Henderson, faces questions over his divorce records. A 2010 petition filed by his ex-wife claims he hit his oldest child and left marks on his face and arms.

"You know from time to time have I had to uh, you know, raise my voice a little bit and get my children to listen to what I had to say when they were, you know, trying to, you know, I guess blow me off? Yes. But, you know, the judge didn't find that there was anything inappropriate and I don't think that, you know, you or anybody else should either," he said.

He staunchly asserted there was never abuse toward his children.

"Listen, I'm not going to tell you that I didn't discipline my children. Absolutely I did," Henderson said. "But was there any abuse? Absolutely not. Never. No such thing."

Our full interviews with each of the three candidates are available in our Illinois midterm election guide here.  

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. For more information about who is on your ballot, where you can vote early and on Election Day, and information on voter registration, visit our Illinois election guide.