District 65 superintendent to leave, pending board vote

(Editor’s Note: Hope Perry reported this story for Evanston RoundTable, a neighboring independent newsroom. It was shared with The Record as part of an ongoing collaborative effort.)

The Evanston/Skokie School District 65 School Board will vote June 22 on a “mutual separation agreement” with Superintendent Angel Turner, according to an email sent to the District 65 community on Thursday, June 18.

The district message was signed by Board President Nichole Pinkard and Vice President Chris Van Nostrand. Turner was appointed to the position more than two years ago (March 2024).

“The Board thanks Dr. Turner for her service to our district over the past five years as she has served in many roles including as Director of Literacy, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, and Superintendent,” Pinkard and Van Nostrand wrote.

If the separation agreement with Turner is approved, her last day at the district will be June 30.

Turner oversaw a difficult time for the district, as the board and administration sought to dig the district out of a structural deficit that had been building for years.

She also consistently faced concern and anger from parents and community members who tied Turner to alleged corruption that took place under former superintendent Devon Horton. None of those accusations against Turner have been proven.

Charmekia McCoy, director of schools management, announced Wednesday, June 17, that she will resign from the district effective Aug. 7. If the separation agreement with Turner is approved, Turner will join Assistant Superintendent Katie Speth, Chief Financial Officer Tamara Mitchell and McCoy as the fourth cabinet-level administrator to leave this year.

Pinkard and Van Nostrand also gave Turner credit for overseeing the new Foster Elementary School.

“When it became clear to her that the original proposal was financially unsustainable, she led efforts to redesign and right-size the project while keeping the vision of a new neighborhood school alive,” they wrote. “Her leadership allowed the District to fulfill its commitment to return a neighborhood school to the Fifth Ward while ensuring the project remained on time and on budget.”

Turner’s background

After serving in Chicago Public Schools as an assistant principal and principal, Turner was brought on to the Academy for Urban School Leadership as the director of student achievement, and later, the director of school leadership. She then served as the associate senior director of curriculum and assessment at Accelerate Institute, a nonprofit that works to close the racial achievement gap in Chicago.

Turner joined District 65 in August 2021 as the director of literacy under former Superintendent Horton. Just over a year later, she was promoted to assistant superintendent of schools, a position she held for one year before being appointed interim superintendent following Horton’s departure in June 2023.

Stay tuned to TheRecordNorthShore.org and EvanstonRoundtable.com as this story develops.

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