Education
Evanston Families Are Pushing Back Against District’s Plan to Close Two Schools
Evanston parents are fighting back against the school district’s plan to close two elementary schools at the end of the academic year.
Evanston/Skokie School District 65 announced the potential closures earlier this month as a result of an ongoing financial crisis in the district. Since then, parents and families have rallied together to try to persuade board members to change their minds and slow down the process.
The school closure recommendation was especially surprising to students and families at Dewey Elementary School. When the board began conversations about closing schools last year, Dewey was rarely mentioned as facing possible closure.
In an email to families at Dewey obtained by WTTW News, District 65 interim Supt. Eric Witherspoon wrote, “While the work from last year remained an important foundation for this process, we knew we needed to go one step further by considering not only our current realities but also a longer-term vision for District 65 and the cumulative impact of these decisions on our community.”
Parents said they were disappointed by both the school closure recommendation and the lack of transparency from the district.
“We had no idea that this would happen,” said Peter Rios, a Dewey Elementary School parent. “The fact that the teachers and administrators got the information at the same time the parents did is just absolutely disrespectful to them, too.”
Lincolnwood Elementary School was part of discussions about school closures last year, but the board ultimately decided the school should remain open. The district instead decided to close Kingsley Elementary School and the Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies — but did not rule out future closures.
The board’s latest proposal includes approximately $20 million in reductions.
In addition to closing schools, District 65 has also proposed eliminating the School Aged Child Care program, which provides care for students before and after school. According to the Financial Sustainability Plan, the district will also look to relinquish federal grants for Head Start and Early Head Start programs, effective July 1, 2028.
District 65 staff is also on the line as the board weighs eliminating more than 200 positions across the district in various roles.
According to the Evanston Roundtable, David Azari and Alex Miller, parents at Dewey Elementary School, found that the district had a $17 million financial projection error.
Miller said she hoped this revelation would help the board reconsider its proposal.
“The current proposal, what it does is offer a certain amount of savings on a repeating basis, but the things behind the structural deficit are salaries, benefits and purchase services that are going up faster than our property tax collections are,” Miller said. “I think the idea that this solves the crisis is incorrect.”
Among a growing list of concerns from parents is the potential impact on students enrolled in the Two-Way Immersion (TWI) program at Dewey. The program is intended for native and non-native Spanish speakers to develop literacy and language proficiency in both English and Spanish.
Rios, whose children are enrolled in the program, said closing Dewey could isolate Evanston’s Spanish-speaking families.
“We have, in the past, suffered this from the administration,” Rios said. “And over the years, that plus ICE has been some years of really big strife for our community. They’re proposing for us to move, as a cohort, to Lincoln (Elementary School). And this school is not ready for us. They don’t have Spanish books, they don’t have bilingual administration, they don’t have anything ready for our kids.”
Another important decision facing District 65 families is the upcoming appointment of a new superintendent. Witherspoon’s term is set to end on Jan. 31.
Robin Telander, a Lincolnwood Elementary School parent, is calling for a reexamination of board members appointed by former Supt. Devon Horton and is urging nearby Northwestern University to invest in public schools. She said she remains optimistic about the future of her district.
“I have probably an insane amount of hope for our community,” Telander said. “I think the parents, the teachers, the kids are incredible.”
The board is set to vote on whether to move forward with closing Lincolnwood and Dewey and whether to make other cuts on Nov. 9. Until then, students, teachers and families said they will continue fighting for their schools.
“Putting people first and not numbers first, there’s a way,” Rios said.
