Facing financial stresses, Skokie’s District 73.5 moves to lay off staff, halt improvement plans

Grappling with a $3.5 million deficit, Skokie School District 73.5’s officials announced on Tuesday that the district will be eliminating positions and suspending an initiative to update the district’s aging buildings. 

Superintendent Charles Kyle announced during a Feb. 10 meeting that he has reduced his office by two and a half positions and eliminated two other administrative positions for the 2026-’27 school year. 

Kyle is now working with legal counsel to determine how many school staff positions will be eliminated to help address the $3.5 million operational deficit, an undertaking that “has already impacted, and will likely continue to impact, staff culture and morale,” he said. 

Seniority and evaluations, Kyle said, will determine which positions are cut, and the district is aiming to complete the reductions in force by the end of March, letting impacted staff members known in advance, he said.

The D73.5 Board of Education also voted unanimously — with Board President Kellie Nelson absent — on Feb. 10 to halt work on its Building 73.5 initiative.

Kyle said the improvement program, which revealed the community largely did not support increasing local property tax bills in order to fund building a new Middleton Elementary School, will be put on hold for at least a year while the district works to balance its budget. 

Reductions and reassignments

Kyle said the district is “working closely” with both of its labor unions to make the staff reductions “as painless as possible, but $3.5 million is a lot.”

Kyle will present the new picture of how many positions were eliminated and which staff members were reassigned when the board of education meets next on March 10, he said. 

But if the district is not able to confirm how many positions are being eliminated — which relies, in part, on collecting evaluations and seniority lists — then the board may hold another special meeting sometime between March 10 and April 1, he said. 

The D73.5 district office has now been reduced to six full-time employees after a payroll position was terminated and a staff member in an office manager position was reassigned to another role last year; the district decided not to refill both of those positions, Kyle said. 

Likewise, the board of education voted on Tuesday to approve the retirement of Ruth Sinker, the district’s communications manager. Sinker was up to retire next year but retired early as part of the consolidation, Kyle said. Sinker’s position will possibly be refilled with a part-time employee. 

The two staff members in the school administrative positions that are being eliminated have already been notified of the district’s decision, Kyle said. 

Responding to concerns about the district’s revenue, Karen Hayes, D73.5’s interim chief school business official, said Cook County has provided D73.5 less than 90% of the tax revenue the district is owed, leaving more than $2 million owed to the district.

Hayes said the delay is likely due to Cook County having new “software system issues” but there are no urgent issues threatening the district’s fund balance. She also noted that D73.5 received only 96% of the Cook County tax revenue it expected last year — lower than that received by nearby school districts. 

Building 73.5 

The district first launched its Building 73.5 initiative in 2024 with an architectural assessment that determined each of the district’s three schools need improvements or replacements to their roofs, HVAC, plumbing and electrical systems, a district presentation shows. 

D73.5 then hosted four community engagement events last year in which the district presented those needs, pitched three different facility plans of varying scope, and surveyed the public on which options they would support. 

The most expensive, $105 million plan proposed constructing a new Middleton Elementary School on the building’s existing site while also conducting maintenance at Elizabeth Meyer School and McCracken Middle School.

That plan, like the other two options, would have required D73.5 to add a referendum to the November ballot asking voters to support the district issuing a bond to fund the overhaul. 

An approved referendum, though, would mean more than $1,200 in new property taxes for a home valued at $400,000 for the next 20-30 years, according to the district. 

During the most recent community engagement session in December, the district reviewed survey results that showed 82.1% of respondents opposed the $105 million plan. 

After speaking with the Skokie Park District, Kyle said he learned that the second most expensive plan — which proposed swapping land to build a new Middleton at McNally Park and updating the other buildings for $90 million — was not an option. 

About 55% of respondents supported (and 41.3% opposed) the least expensive, $45 million plan that would have only involved repairs and left the buildings “largely unchanged.”  

Moving forward with facilities

Kyle said a consultant advised the district it would need approximately 55% or higher community support to pass a referendum. Kyle said he’s not “giving up on this,” but he’d want stronger signs for a successful referendum to continue working on the overhaul. 

“What people have said is they think with Cook County taxes going up, with the budget operation of balancing the budget, with morale and culture and climate being so low, this would be an opportunity to take a break,” Kyle said.

“This doesn’t mean we don’t have issues with Middleton. We’ve heard about the windows, the elevator, also the cafeteria. Those are some big concerns that came up through the process,” he said. 

The architectural assessment apparently found that Middleton’s windows, interior finishes, casework, HVAC, and electrical and plumbing systems are approaching or surpassing their “end of useful life.” The school’s paving reportedly is in “poor condition” and masonry needs to be investigated.

While D73.5 may not be completely updating its buildings soon, Kyle said the district will need to address parts of the roof at Meyer and McCracken this summer and fix district HVAC systems. In the next two to three years, staff will have to decide whether to re-roof Middleton, he said. 

The district will spend this time determining whether the cost of repairs would justify a new school instead, Kyle said. 

And the Building 73.5 process has still been “beneficial,” he said, because the district now has a 10-year facilities plan to guide future upkeep and conceptual designs for a new Middleton that reflect input from faculty, staff, community members and administration.

Board member LaTasha Nelson echoed Kyle in saying the district “has to read the writing on the wall” but she’s happy about the work that’s gone into the Building 73.5 process.

Other board members agreed this was not the right time to pursue overhauling the district’s buildings.

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