William P. Gray Elementary School, 3730 N. Laramie Ave. View Full Caption DNAinfo/Heather Cherone

PORTAGE PARK — Gray Elementary School has been without a principal for a month as a dispute between Chicago Public Schools officials and Gray's Local School Council drags on and shows no sign of resolution.

The school has been leaderless since Principal Sandra Carlson retired June 30.

CPS officials did not respond to questions from DNAinfo.com Chicago this week about the school's leadership, despite promising an announcement Tuesday. Teachers are due to report for their first day of work of the 2014-15 school year in three weeks.

The dispute began in May when district officials informed the Portage Park school's council that its pick for the top job — Assistant Principal Catherine Sugrue — failed the principal selection test twice and was not eligible for the position.

Sugrue, the sister of Ald. Patrick O'Connor (40th), has been an assistant principal at Gray for a year.

Anna Alvarado, the chief of elementary and high schools on the Northwest and Far Northwest sides, told the council she would appoint an acting principal for the 2014-15 school year unless the council reconsidered its decision.

Alvarado said the school could not afford to be leaderless during the summer months.

Members of the council vowed to protest CPS' decision to prevent Sugrue from taking the top job at the school, which they said was not in the best interest of the school's students or the Portage Park community, and declined to offer the job to another candidate.

Liz Miller, a member of the Gray council, did not return a phone message.

Gray's website is out-of-date, featuring Carlson's September 2013 welcome letter to students on its main pages and listing her as principal.

In 2013, Sugrue served as the district's director of school transition and oversaw 30,000 students displaced by the closure of 54 public schools in 2013, most on the South and West sides. Sugrue also served as the No. 2 official in the district's Office of New Schools, overseeing charters.

O’Connor, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s floor leader, is one of the most powerful aldermen on the City Council.

Sugrue was selected from 12 applicants and three finalists and was by far the most qualified, the local school council said.

More than 1,300 students attend Gray, which is ranked among the best in the city and offers a technology magnet program.

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