Alfonso Carmona, Chicago Public Schools' acting chief education officer and a Colombian immigrant who has spent more than two decades in the district, is stepping away from CPS, with Friday set as his last day on the job. Carmona has accepted a superintendent role in Lake County that starts in July. His exit lands right in the middle of an escalating push from a coalition of board members, elected officials and community groups demanding more Latino leadership in the district’s upper ranks to match a student body that is nearly half Latino.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Carmona, a 21-year CPS veteran who previously served as chief portfolio officer and a network chief, confirmed that he is leaving and is credited with helping craft the district’s five-year strategic plan and steering its academic strategy. The Tribune also notes that Nicole Milberg is leaving her role as chief of teaching and learning, part of a broader wave of central-office turnover.
Carmona’s next stop will be in the northern suburbs. He was selected last fall as the incoming superintendent of Grayslake Community Consolidated School District 46, a K-8 district in Lake County, with his contract beginning in July, according to the Daily Herald. The paper reports that the hire came after a national search and was approved by the District 46 board.
Leadership and representation
As Carmona prepares to leave, pressure is rising on CPS leadership over who comes next. A coalition of board members, elected officials and community groups has sent a letter urging CEO Macquline King to appoint qualified Latino leaders to her executive team. Eight of the city’s 10 elected board members signed that appeal, the Tribune reports.
Board members quoted in the Tribune warned that the timing and process of these high-profile personnel decisions could have ripple effects. Angel Velez cautioned that prioritizing certain demands now “could create a sense of competition between communities,” while Jason Grissom said that constant churn at the top can chip away at institutional knowledge.
What the numbers say
The district lists 316,224 students on its 2025-26 20th-day enrollment, with Latinx students making up about 46% and Black students about 34% of the total, according to Chicago Public Schools. Those numbers sit at the heart of the calls for executive-level hires who look like and come from the communities the system serves.
Budget squeeze complicates hires
Money troubles are looming over all of this. Axios reports the district is staring down a projected $520 million shortfall in the near term, a gap that is likely to influence decisions on staffing and contracts across the board. At the same time, the Board approved Macquline King’s three-year contract, effective July 1, as an attempt to provide steadier leadership while CPS navigates those financial headwinds, according to WTTW.
For now, district leaders and community advocates agree on the basic marching orders: move quickly enough on replacements to keep schools steady, and show through key appointments that the central office reflects the students it serves. How King threads the needle between representation and budget reality will help set CPS’s course heading into the new school year.
