District 65 remains deadlocked on school-closure scenarios. Another vote set for Dec. 1

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

The Evanston/Skokie District 65 School Board adjourned Thursday still deeply divided on whether to close one or two schools, but in agreement that on Dec. 1 they will meet and vote on the same four closure scenarios most recently discussed.

At the Monday, Nov. 17 meeting, all three school closure scenarios up for a vote failed to advance. The Thursday special meeting was called after what Superintendent Angel Turner called a “procedural error” left a fourth — a Lincolnwood Elementary-only closure scenario — off the agenda for Monday.

At Thursday night’s meeting, the board unanimously rejected the advancement of the Lincolnwood-only scenario.

A board divided

One reason for Thursday’s decision is the ongoing uncertainty as to whether a closed Lincolnwood could be leased out or sold. A letter sent to the board by local lawyer Victor Fillipini claims that restrictions on the deed of Lincolnwood mandate specific uses for the property, calling into question the possibility of selling or leasing the property. 

Assistant Superintendent Stacy Beardsley said that the district was reviewing these claims with legal counsel. Board President Pat Anderson noted the uncertainty around land usage at Lincolnwood was a limiting factor. 

That skepticism contributed to general observations from multiple board members that Kingsley Elementary was a better candidate for closure.

All six board members on Monday rejected the option to close both Willard Elementary and Kingsley. The board deadlocked on closing both Kingsley and Lincolnwood, with Sergio Hernandez, Mya Wilkins and Andrew Wymer voting in favor, and Anderson, Vice President Nichole Pinkard and Maria Opdycke opposed.

The board again deadlocked on the scenario that would advance the closure of only Kingsley, with Hernandez, Wilkins and Wymer opposed and Anderson, Pinkard and Opdycke in favor.

Those four scenarios already discussed and voted upon this week — the closure of Willard and Kingsley, the closure of Kingsley and Lincolnwood, the closure of only Kingsley, and the closure of only Lincolnwood — will be on the agenda for the newly called Dec. 1 meeting. 

What would closing one additional school mean? 

The board was still evenly split Thursday on whether to close one or two schools in addition to the Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies. During open discussion, Anderson, Pinkard and Opdycke continued to favor a single additional school closure, and Hernandez, Wilkins and Wymer continued to favor two additional closures. 

“Other than having a baby, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” Anderson said, to laughs and applause from the audience.

Anderson said that her shift from wanting to close two schools to just one was based on the “heavy load of actually closing two schools while opening Foster.” She added that the district’s budget is “heavily influenced” by the opening of Foster and said that successfully opening the new school “would be a vehicle to show the community that we can get the work done.”

Pinkard said that she favored closing one additional school at the end of this year, and then reevaluating the possibility of closing an additional elementary school in the Haven Middle School feeder pattern after a year of planning and discussion. 

Beardsley pointed out that that method could cause students to change schools multiple times over the next several years.

Pinkard responded that she had been listening to the district’s north side parents and “to a T, they have said, ‘We’re willing to take that risk.’” The remark drew applause from one section of the audience.

Wilkins took the opposite stance: “At the end of the day, when you close just one school, you’re in a position where you still have to make substantial cuts over time or end up closing another school in order to get to where we need to be, which I think will just prolong the pain in the community.”

Wymer pointed to financial calculations he ran by district Chief Financial Officer Tamara Mitchell. He said that according to his math, closing two schools in addition to Bessie Rhodes would put the district in a position to need to make about $2.3 million in programming cuts over the next several years, as opposed to approximately $8.5 million in cuts with one additional closure.

Opdycke said that between one and two additional closures she sees uncertainty about increasing transportation costs and a decrease in walkability with two closures on the north side. She also claimed that north side schools have decreased their enrollment at a greater rate than schools in the rest of the city, and closing two schools there could jeopardize efforts to “win back” students to the district.

Public comment

Forty-four speakers signed up to give public comments at Thursday’s meeting. The Legion of Data Nerds, a numbers-focused parent group, showed up in force to advocate for the closure of one additional school.

Kelly McCabe called on the board to cut administrative costs and told the board that there were “too many unknowns” to close schools.

“If nobody knows, you shouldn’t close,” she said.

Parents of Willard two-way Spanish/English immersion students also showed up in force, calling on the board to reconsider the fate of the program. TWI is slated to be cut from Willard even if no additional schools close at the end of the school year. 

The board ended up using some of their discussion time to ask questions about Willard’s immersion program, including Wymer, who asked specifically why the program would be cut if there were not significant project savings.

Beardsley replied that the decision was made in conjunction with multilingual program staff and based on enrollment trends, but said she could come to a meeting at a later date with more information.

Several parents, including Lincolnwood parent Lisa Weiss, also chimed in about the selection of a seventh board member to break the deadlock and replace Omar Salem, who resigned from the board a few weeks ago. Weiss asked that the board select someone who placed high in last spring’s elections. 

The board is set to meet in closed-door sessions on Dec. 2 and Dec. 4 for deliberations over the appointment.

Letter from principals

At the close of public comment, there was hushed discussion on the board dais. Then, Turner said she would read a letter sent to the board by the principals of District 65.

“The board’s ongoing inability to reach a decision on the school district’s structural deficit reduction process is actively undermining the stability of our schools,” the letter reads, going on to implore the board to make a decision in a timely fashion, and criticize members for arriving to meetings without “clear, pointed, data-driven questions.”

Following the letter reading, one parent yelled and asked which principals wrote it, to which Turner replied repeatedly, “The principals of District 65!”

Security told one person that they would be asked to leave if they did not stop speaking out of turn, and the audience quieted.

Back in December

Beardsley made it clear that in order for the district to successfully close a school at the end of this school year, administrators need direction by winter break, which begins on Dec. 19.

After some discussion among board members over how to meet legal requirements for meeting dates and announcements for public hearings for school closures, they decided on the Dec. 1 date.

The board will reconvene Dec. 1 at a time to be announced, to once again vote on advancing the following scenarios: the closure of Willard and Kingsley, the closure of Kingsley and Lincolnwood, the closure of only Kingsley, and the closure of only Lincolnwood.

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