District 65 CFO to Resign
After two years on the job, D65 finances significantly improved
The Evanston Roundtable is reporting that District 65 CFO Tamara Mitchell is resigning effective the end of the school year, in June. This ends a nearly two-year tenure during which District 65 stepped away from the edge of insolvency:
Summer/Fall 2024: Came to terms over the reality of their budget deficits in presentations by Mitchell and financial consultant Dr. Robert Grossi
January 2025: Kicked off the Structural Deficit Reduction Plan to solve the District’s looming financial crisis
September 2025: Achieved a nominally balanced budget through administrative cost savings
November 2025: Agreed to conduct a forensic audit of Dr. Horton’s tenure as Superintendent
Before Mitchell started in July 2024, District 65 went almost a full year without a CFO. The prior CFO, Rafael Obafemi, resigned a month after Dr. Horton left in August 2023.
Mr. Obafemi is currently the CFO of District 308 in Oswego, Illinois where he works under Superintendent Andalib Khelghati. Dr. Khelghati was District 65’s Assistant Superintendent for HR before he was recruited away by School Exec Connect, a company Dr. Horton was moonlighting for, while also District 65 Superintendent.
Despite leaving the District with multi-year $10+ million-dollar deficits and creative financing for the Foster School, the ISBE gave Mr. Obafemi a “Those Who Excel” Award in 2023. From the Roundtable story:
Obafemi won praise from the school board and fellow administrators in recent years for saving enough money in the budget to avoid previously projected deficits. The district’s finance team won a “Those Who Excel Award of Excellence” and the highest available school district financial rating in 2023 from the Illinois State Board of Education.
As far as I know, Ms. Mitchell hasn’t gotten the “Those Who Excel” award yet, but I do think she deserves our thanks.