A District 65 school building in Evanston. Photo: Nick Number, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Families at Dewey and Lincolnwood elementary schools have one more week before District 65’s board decides whether to start the formal process of closing both buildings. Parents who rely on before- and after-school care, on the other hand, got an answer this week: the program is staying.
The Evanston/Skokie District 65 board was scheduled to vote Monday, Nov. 9, on a comprehensive budget reduction plan and on whether to schedule the public hearings state law requires before a school can be closed. Board leaders pulled both votes days earlier. In a message to the community, Board President Nichole Pinkard, Vice President Chris Van Nostrand and Interim Superintendent Eric Witherspoon said they wanted “additional time for discussion and consideration of the proposed financial stability plan,” with a vote expected Nov. 16, Evanston Now reported.
Not a closing vote yet
The Nov. 16 vote would only start the hearing process. District spokesperson Melissa Messinger has said it will not close either school on its own, and a final decision would come after the hearings, according to 5AM Evanston, which compiled reporting from NBC 5, WGN-TV, CBS Chicago and The Daily Northwestern. The district has indicated it does not plan to sell the buildings.
Administrators proposed the two closures in October as part of a plan to cut about $20 million in spending by fiscal year 2028. District leaders have said enrollment has dropped 33% at both schools. More than 700 students would change schools if both close, and a revised map of attendance boundaries the district released with the delay would move 630 kindergarten-through-fourth-grade students, about 22%, to different schools, according to Evanston Now.
Why the vote slipped
The postponement came two days after the district’s lawyer had told a group of Dewey parents, who are also attorneys, that the vote would go ahead. The parents had argued the district was about to violate the state school code and threatened to sue if the Nov. 9 vote happened, ABC7 Chicago and Evanston Now reported.
The plan has also been dogged by a math problem. Parents found an error in the district’s five-year projections, which the district later put at $27.35 million. Administrators say that money should go to reserves and capital repairs rather than operations, but critics of the cuts have pointed to it as a reason to slow down.
Before Monday’s meeting, families, teachers and students rallied outside the Joseph E. Hill Early Childhood Center against the closures and the broader cuts. Board members are weighing reductions of more than 200 staff positions and could cut or phase out non-mandated programs, including Head Start.
Child care saved, with concessions
One of those programs is off the cutting list. On Monday the board unanimously approved a three-year contract extension with the Evanston Association of Child Care Professionals, the union representing School Age Child Care (SACC) workers. The extension takes effect when the current contract ends next summer, Evanston Now reported.
Eliminating SACC would have cut 21 positions and saved the district about $400,000 a year. Union President Natalie Copper confirmed the extension includes concessions by workers, but the specific terms have not been made public. About 350 children use the program across the district. Full morning and afternoon care costs $504 a month, with discounts based on family income. Whether fees will change hasn’t been announced.
Head Start is still on the table. The administration has proposed ending the district-run early childhood program in mid-2028 and hopes another agency will take it over. The same union represents Head Start and Early Head Start staff, where the plan shows nearly 70 positions eliminated.
The board takes up the closure-hearing vote and the rest of the budget plan at its Monday, Nov. 16, meeting.
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Rachel Lindqvist covers community life, the lakefront, dining and the arts for The Evanston Edge.
