District 65 Replies to my Story from Monday
District takes issue (fairly?) with some of my language involving the budget
This morning, I got an email from District 65 commenting on my story from the other day. I’ve posted a copy of the email I received in full below with their permission.
I agree with them on some things and disagree on other points. I genuinely appreciate their team for sending me this email. Let me know what you think in the comments.
In unrelated news, I’m going to take ~month off from FOIA Gras - I have a day job, after all. I’m going to leave the comment section open on this one but I may not be moving along discussion as much as I normally do. I may close some of the comment sections on previous stories, because they’re hard to moderate after the fact - so leave your comments here, kids.
Hope you are well! I wanted to reach out because I've seen some of the comments in FOIA Gras and within the community and wanted to provide some clarity and offer partnership. We recognize the magnitude of what’s ahead and want to continue to ensure transparency and open lines of communication. I have also spoken directly with Dr Grossi to ensure what I’m sharing is accurate and reflective of his comments.
District 65 will not “run out of money” in January 2025. The fall tax bills in Cook County were due August 1, 2024. Thus, most of our tax collections from this billing have been received. Our fund balance is stable at this point in time. This being said, our team is in complete agreement with Dr. Grossi’s statement about needing bold and immediate action to avoid fiscal insolvency and improve our financial health once and for all.
We take this work extremely seriously and it is being prioritized among our leadership team. The possibility of a cash flow problem would come as early as next fall (2025) if the fall tax collection due date falls into December as it did the prior year. This could necessitate the issuance of tax anticipation warrants to bridge the cash flow until the tax revenues are received. This is the point Dr Grossi was conveying and we are developing solution options to mitigate this possibility.
Days cash on hand is a key metric used by the Illinois State Board of Education in measuring the overall financial health of a school district. This measurement is formula driven. Days cash on hand appears on every annual financial report prepared by the district’s external auditors and is reported to the ISBE. Days cash on hand fluctuates during the fiscal year in tandem with revenues received. As a district primarily funded by real estate property taxes, there are natural high and low points. The 72 days cash on hand calculation in no way means that payroll checks are going to start bouncing in January 2025.
Also it's important to note that a budget is a best estimate of the revenues received and expenses paid during the fiscal year. A significant amount of time was invested in developing an accurate budget this year and improving our financial management practices. Nearly all decisions that affect a budget are made well before the fiscal year begins. This includes the adoption of the tax levy, the execution of contractual agreements, and the development of staffing, services and programming designed to ensure that not only state and federal government mandates are met, but also that services and supports deemed valuable for the student body are provided.
While there will certainly be some actions (as previously described) that would positively impact our budget, the majority of our budget is set for FY25 as described above. We know time is of the essence and do believe that developing a plan for reductions of this magnitude ($13.2M) in four months is aggressive and bold.
It is inaccurate and misleading to our community to state that there is not a plan in place or that the timeline is not fast enough. Superintendent Dr Turner presented a framework to guide this work based on Dr. Grossi and Ms. Mitchell’s recommendations, to be able to gather the data necessary, develop implementation and communication plans, and gather input from key stakeholders to inform these efforts. This is the work that will take place over the next four months and while it's critical to move with urgency, it’s even more important that we get it right. As mentioned above, this timeline has been developed in collaboration with Dr Grossi and Ms. Mitchell and is appropriate given what is ahead.
I'm wondering if others thought the Thursday editorial in the Tribune soft-pedaled D-65's problems, and didn't express the lack of confidence in the current board that many, many people have expressed.
This is completely infuriating. For each of the last several FOIA Gras articles I have wanted to comment but instead have to tend to my jobs as a parent and professional.
FOIA Gras has been an amazing resource for several years, and single-handedly brought light to many issues that were either completely unknown (hundreds of thousands of dollars of catered lunch) or disregarded as “racist” conjecture (the Magical Bus Savings being lesser than advertised).
Tom has the reach and subscriber base he has because D65 has offered anything BUT “clarity and partnership”, “transparency and open lines of communication” to their stakeholders: D65 Parents & Guardians, and every Evanston taxpayer. Without any other area to discuss, Tom filled a void and gave those of us wanting to question the company line a forum to do so.
Speaking of “D65 Parents & Guardians” - where is D65 regarding the use of their name in that toxic, inaccurate, and misleading cesspool of a Facebook group? When will they police that? For years, several of the Same Ten People have shamed, harassed, doxxed anyone and everyone that disagrees with their personal assessment of D65. I’ve seen all types of unsuspecting people be recipients of just plain mean discourse when they are asking questions as simple as “are there Halloween plans” or “I’m moving to Evanston, what is a good school?”.
That D65 FINALLY feels the need to reach out to external media sources to state that the media source is being “inaccurate and misleading to our community” is infuriating. There’s no other way to put it.
Remember, just a few months ago the FY25 Budget was looking great. Then, there was a $10M deficit. And now, it is a $13M deficit. The only thing inaccurate and misleading is the D65 Board, Administrators (past AND present), and their lackeys that stifle any and all discussion regarding the woeful mismanagement of this beautiful district.
D65 could sincerely offer up “clarity”, “partnership”, “transparency”, and “open lines of communication” by allowing the SAP3 Process to be open and to allow citizen input on the inevitable (this wasn’t always the case, but it is now) impending school closures.
I work in boring corporate America. For the things I do, I need to produce multi-year plans, contingency plans, risk assessments, stakeholder analysis, communicate the changes, etc., before I can get started. My work is NOWHERE as near as consequential as the building of schools, shuttering of schools, and redrawing of school boundaries that affects a city of 70,000+ in one of America’s largest metro areas. That any request to do any of the above of D65 Admin & Board was labelled as "problematic" was itself quite problematic, as we now see with this mess.
This “tone policing” from the D65 PR Team is energy best spent elsewhere.
D65 should focus on themselves and their teams, and stop trying to micromanage the one forum in Evanston that allows for true and robust discussion of the dumpster fire that is our public school district. If they want to stamp out inaccurate and misleading information in our community, I first suggest they start on Facebook.