“Every Child, Every Day, Whatever It Takes“
That is the statement that greets us on the District 65 webpages. But that statement feels disingenuous.
In light of the current circumstances, the District 65 school board has no business discussing the closure of additional schools until they have accounted for how the District is in the financial circumstances it is in.
With news of the indictments of the former superintendent and other individuals he was doing business with, many in the community have gotten confirmation of one of the worst kept secrets in town. While I respect the fact that the district was limited in sharing information publicly while the investigation into the conduct of the prior superintendent was ongoing, I would also assume that a detailed forensic accounting was undertaken as soon as the board became aware of the allegations. The community does not know whether that occurred, and if it did, what the results were.
There is presently no real credibility for any of the financial representations. Rather than undertake to reassure the community that steps have been and are being taken, the board has chosen to propose a series of bad choices, and to create community dissent with the illusory input sessions.
Given the proportionately small savings per year out of a budget of over $213 million, closing these schools does not seem rational. I have looked and I cannot clearly determine if those projections are net savings. Do they account for the cost of moving students and staff to other schools, the cost of increased capacity at the remaining schools and the additional transportation costs? We all remember that the board approved an entirely new school based on the representation that it would be paid for from cost savings, and that turned out to be far from true.
I completed the online survey to provide input on the potential for school closings. Rather than feeling like I was being given an opportunity to provide input, the survey appeared to me to be more designed to create dissent. I was left with the feeling that residents are being played against each other in order to prevent a unified voice.
This is an effective strategy. One that encourages factions within the community to argue among themselves to try to preserve resources that appear to be limited. This strategy should look familiar, because it is effectively enabling adverse results, and political repercussions across the country.
The narrative should not be a discussion of which schools should be closed. At this juncture, the only conversation should be focused on telling the community exactly what happened, and for the board to be accountable for decisions that are questionable at best.
A glaring lack of transparency remains. The City of Evanston and other school districts make their bills, spending and financial information readily available on their website.
Somewhere along the way, the idea that the needs of every child, every day, whatever it takes, has been lost. We need to start these conversations over, with a unified community voice that insists on complete transparency and reliable financial information that acknowledges what went wrong, and why.
Don Wilson is an Evanstonian and former councilmember from the 4th Ward.
