Please come in person to the (Board) meetings and voice all of your concerns! Don’t just do it on social media.
But wait. Wait we just had a Board meeting yesterday and didn’t tell you about this!! We didn’t want to hear your in person views. We will be more than happy to deal with them on zoom though. Transparency is our main goal. Don’t you “see” how transparent we are?
To be fair to me, that zoom link was published in the Roundtable and Evanston now - the email they sent out went to a huge group of people - I had Haven parents forwarding me the email. There was no indication this was a private zoom link for specific parents only. It's unfortunate they felt unsafe but don't invite the whole town to your meeting in the first place?
anyone else getting the impression that the Roundtable doesn't give a F anymore, either? with their publishing of the link yesterday, publishing the new link today. good for them. or, is that just another detour??
The treatment of the Rhodes families will be a lasting stain on this Board and Administration. They need to face the BR families IN PERSON. Last night they call out the community for allegedly hiding on social media and then pull this garbage? They have no sense of decency, shame on all of them.
This is heartbreaking. This Board should resign in shame. This is appalling. These people are literally terrible human beings. Monsters. I’m so sorry for these kids. They’ve been through enough. This Board has ruined our district. Good job, you morons.
I’m betting Bessie is going to close at end of school year. This is the administrations low hanging fruit. They should have first started layoffs with eliminating half of the administrative staff. Then you have some credibility to go after schools. Turner and board are not credible or capable of being leaders.
Another example of gross mismanagement by the school board and the superintendent. I will never understand why the school board hired one of Horton's friends who was on a CPS no-hire list.
This is an extremely sad outcome that comes with a continued pattern of poor delivery from the District. This was preventable if the District and School Board had taken any of the appropriate management and oversight steps Bessie Rhodes families have been calling for for years. As someone who has attended and spoken at multiple board meetings, written emails and letters, reached out to speak by phone to school board members AND administration members, and written articles, I can tell you that while a limited few have been willing to- at bare minimum- listen, the core leadership of the Board and Administration are unwilling to thoughtfully engage with the Bessie Rhodes community. Board meetings and public hearings conducted in English with one way dialogue are NOT community outreach. During the Bessie Rhodes closure process, there was not a SINGLE MEETING held where parents/caregivers at Bessie Rhodes could have back and forth dialogue and ask questions of the District and School Board. But they were more than happy to HIRE ANOTHER CONSULTANT to talk to us about change management and our feelings around change. Further, it is one thing to ignore me- I am a white woman from North Evanston, I see why my voice may not be welcomed and the problematic history around people like me in Evanston. But to treat my fellow parents and caregivers of color in the same manner is unacceptable, especially given how quick the Board and Administration are to endlessly praise themselves for having equity at the center of their work. They have gone out of their way to sideline our families at every step during this process. All of this is further magnified for our parents and caregivers who speak Spanish as their first language. There has been no longitudinal efforts to engage these families in any way. Many of them report they are assigned to Bessie Rhodes without even being informed by the District that the school is slated for closure.
Part of the problem I see in Evanston is that every valid concern is prefaced by people like you (and me) that your view is irrelevant because you are white and from North Evanston. You are a tax payer. You are a voter. You are a parent. You are an affected parent. All of these qualify you to voice your complaint and concern without shame and you should have an equal voice. I get the whole inequity thing- maybe more than others like us. But we also have to stop qualifying our views with the caveat that, oh, I’m white so I get if you dismiss me. Btw, everything you say in your post is appalling and further evidence that this Board as a whole is garbage. Garbage.
This is what the so-called ‘Equity’ looks like in D65 at this time under this school board amd administration. They should have known and planned for what incentives and guarantees it would take to secure teaching staff for a school that has been condemned to CLOSURE.
This will undoubtedly be a very negative and possibly traumatic formative experience for those kids who have to change schools mid semester and be that ‘new kid’ in the class that we all have seen at one time or another. Not what they signed up for. Shame on this board.
I am just waiting for the NYT or the WSJ or the Atlantic to write a feature story on the dismal failings of D65 in pursuit of so-called Equity, like we have seen for San Francisco. Too bad they don’t give educational Equity awards to Board members and supt.’s for improving mundane fundamentals such as increased ratios of teachers aids and math/reading specialists per low-performing student, etc.
One day not far from now with the gentrification fueled in part by the new school, we Hispanics will probably be the larger minority in 5th ward, and maybe all of Evanston and we will have our day. And this day will fuel further gentrification in the 5th ward.
It looks like the Board and admin are trying to avoid all of the tricky issues with the transition in the fall of 2026 by making sure that the school doesn't make it to end of the 25-26 school year. Who would want to send their kids there when this is going on?
They’ve known that they were closing this school for a looooong time —since Horton’s “reign”. This begs the question: what was the plan to ensure no disruptions this year for this school community? This didn’t happen overnight….where were the meetings with families? Where/when was this discussed by the BOE? Where was the crisis management?
All of these people spend money like it’s growing in trees/like drunken sailors —on the things they prioritize. I guess BR student/families don’t make the list.
Just when you think they couldn’t fail our Evanston kids more. I am so sorry to everyone at this school for the lack of care/respect shown by these people.
There were no meeting worth families AND I’m payed families learned over email at the same time as the rest of us … they don’t even have the decency to face families , but instead are offering a zoom meeting
Why on earth did they decide to put the first year of the middle school TWI pilot at a school that was going to close?
We had a fifth grade twi student at a different school last year and they pushed the Bessie Rhodes option hard. We would have considered it for our kid were it not for the impending closure.
Had they offered TWI at one of the middle schools set to stay open we likely would have done it with our kid.
This another bit of evidence that Secret Superintendent Search #2 should be questioned. Turner seems to be in way over her head. Would a superintendent with experience in turning around a district made the same decisions about programming or staff recruitment?
So let’s get this straight. Foster school is to “bring our babies home “ i e Black students. Bessie Rhodes has a significant number of English language learners and Hispanic families. Rereading Animal Farm I remember that All animals are equal but after the takeover it became “ but some animals are more equal”. So sad
How disruptive for these kids, especially when middle school is such a hard time of life anyway. I will never understand why the district and this board are so hell bent on closing a dual language global studies school.
neW attENdanCe bOundArIeS WILL go inTo efFECt As Early as THE 2026-2027 SChOoL YeaR. ALl cUrReNt StuDeNtS wiLl rEmaIN iN tHeIR BUILDINGS/pROgRAms THrOuGh ThIs TImE.
The story made the WGN News this morning; it was a short bit but one thing that the reporter said was that the school would be closing at the end of THIS year which made the 7/8 announcement more surprising. Where would he get that info from?
Please come in person to the (Board) meetings and voice all of your concerns! Don’t just do it on social media.
But wait. Wait we just had a Board meeting yesterday and didn’t tell you about this!! We didn’t want to hear your in person views. We will be more than happy to deal with them on zoom though. Transparency is our main goal. Don’t you “see” how transparent we are?
BoE: “COME AT ME BRO!”
BoE: “We believe a Zoom meeting is unsafe because of Tom Hayden. We will text you guys.”
To be fair to me, that zoom link was published in the Roundtable and Evanston now - the email they sent out went to a huge group of people - I had Haven parents forwarding me the email. There was no indication this was a private zoom link for specific parents only. It's unfortunate they felt unsafe but don't invite the whole town to your meeting in the first place?
B.S. this was never a safety issue. It was punishment for pushback. You will see a lot more of it from this Administration. Keep pushing.
anyone else getting the impression that the Roundtable doesn't give a F anymore, either? with their publishing of the link yesterday, publishing the new link today. good for them. or, is that just another detour??
There was literally nothing wrong with publishing that link!!
I agree!
The treatment of the Rhodes families will be a lasting stain on this Board and Administration. They need to face the BR families IN PERSON. Last night they call out the community for allegedly hiding on social media and then pull this garbage? They have no sense of decency, shame on all of them.
This is heartbreaking. This Board should resign in shame. This is appalling. These people are literally terrible human beings. Monsters. I’m so sorry for these kids. They’ve been through enough. This Board has ruined our district. Good job, you morons.
I’m betting Bessie is going to close at end of school year. This is the administrations low hanging fruit. They should have first started layoffs with eliminating half of the administrative staff. Then you have some credibility to go after schools. Turner and board are not credible or capable of being leaders.
Another example of gross mismanagement by the school board and the superintendent. I will never understand why the school board hired one of Horton's friends who was on a CPS no-hire list.
Dorothy
This is an extremely sad outcome that comes with a continued pattern of poor delivery from the District. This was preventable if the District and School Board had taken any of the appropriate management and oversight steps Bessie Rhodes families have been calling for for years. As someone who has attended and spoken at multiple board meetings, written emails and letters, reached out to speak by phone to school board members AND administration members, and written articles, I can tell you that while a limited few have been willing to- at bare minimum- listen, the core leadership of the Board and Administration are unwilling to thoughtfully engage with the Bessie Rhodes community. Board meetings and public hearings conducted in English with one way dialogue are NOT community outreach. During the Bessie Rhodes closure process, there was not a SINGLE MEETING held where parents/caregivers at Bessie Rhodes could have back and forth dialogue and ask questions of the District and School Board. But they were more than happy to HIRE ANOTHER CONSULTANT to talk to us about change management and our feelings around change. Further, it is one thing to ignore me- I am a white woman from North Evanston, I see why my voice may not be welcomed and the problematic history around people like me in Evanston. But to treat my fellow parents and caregivers of color in the same manner is unacceptable, especially given how quick the Board and Administration are to endlessly praise themselves for having equity at the center of their work. They have gone out of their way to sideline our families at every step during this process. All of this is further magnified for our parents and caregivers who speak Spanish as their first language. There has been no longitudinal efforts to engage these families in any way. Many of them report they are assigned to Bessie Rhodes without even being informed by the District that the school is slated for closure.
Part of the problem I see in Evanston is that every valid concern is prefaced by people like you (and me) that your view is irrelevant because you are white and from North Evanston. You are a tax payer. You are a voter. You are a parent. You are an affected parent. All of these qualify you to voice your complaint and concern without shame and you should have an equal voice. I get the whole inequity thing- maybe more than others like us. But we also have to stop qualifying our views with the caveat that, oh, I’m white so I get if you dismiss me. Btw, everything you say in your post is appalling and further evidence that this Board as a whole is garbage. Garbage.
This is what the so-called ‘Equity’ looks like in D65 at this time under this school board amd administration. They should have known and planned for what incentives and guarantees it would take to secure teaching staff for a school that has been condemned to CLOSURE.
This will undoubtedly be a very negative and possibly traumatic formative experience for those kids who have to change schools mid semester and be that ‘new kid’ in the class that we all have seen at one time or another. Not what they signed up for. Shame on this board.
I am just waiting for the NYT or the WSJ or the Atlantic to write a feature story on the dismal failings of D65 in pursuit of so-called Equity, like we have seen for San Francisco. Too bad they don’t give educational Equity awards to Board members and supt.’s for improving mundane fundamentals such as increased ratios of teachers aids and math/reading specialists per low-performing student, etc.
One day not far from now with the gentrification fueled in part by the new school, we Hispanics will probably be the larger minority in 5th ward, and maybe all of Evanston and we will have our day. And this day will fuel further gentrification in the 5th ward.
It looks like the Board and admin are trying to avoid all of the tricky issues with the transition in the fall of 2026 by making sure that the school doesn't make it to end of the 25-26 school year. Who would want to send their kids there when this is going on?
They’ve known that they were closing this school for a looooong time —since Horton’s “reign”. This begs the question: what was the plan to ensure no disruptions this year for this school community? This didn’t happen overnight….where were the meetings with families? Where/when was this discussed by the BOE? Where was the crisis management?
All of these people spend money like it’s growing in trees/like drunken sailors —on the things they prioritize. I guess BR student/families don’t make the list.
Just when you think they couldn’t fail our Evanston kids more. I am so sorry to everyone at this school for the lack of care/respect shown by these people.
There were no meeting worth families AND I’m payed families learned over email at the same time as the rest of us … they don’t even have the decency to face families , but instead are offering a zoom meeting
So infuriating. I feel so badly.
Why on earth did they decide to put the first year of the middle school TWI pilot at a school that was going to close?
We had a fifth grade twi student at a different school last year and they pushed the Bessie Rhodes option hard. We would have considered it for our kid were it not for the impending closure.
Had they offered TWI at one of the middle schools set to stay open we likely would have done it with our kid.
This another bit of evidence that Secret Superintendent Search #2 should be questioned. Turner seems to be in way over her head. Would a superintendent with experience in turning around a district made the same decisions about programming or staff recruitment?
The BRGS community invites supporters of Bessie Rhodes to attend the Zoom meeting tomorrow and show their support. 6:00 pm, Thursday, October 17 Zoom link: https://district65.zoom.us/j/3803062769?omn=87561891003&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Can we share this, Melissa? With other parents?
Yes, please do Truth Seeker. Thank you!
So let’s get this straight. Foster school is to “bring our babies home “ i e Black students. Bessie Rhodes has a significant number of English language learners and Hispanic families. Rereading Animal Farm I remember that All animals are equal but after the takeover it became “ but some animals are more equal”. So sad
How disruptive for these kids, especially when middle school is such a hard time of life anyway. I will never understand why the district and this board are so hell bent on closing a dual language global studies school.
Unbelievable. They couldn’t even wait until the holidays?
Amateur hour: looks like they need to update this link. https://www.district65.net/register/student-registration/attendance-boundaries
neW attENdanCe bOundArIeS WILL go inTo efFECt As Early as THE 2026-2027 SChOoL YeaR. ALl cUrReNt StuDeNtS wiLl rEmaIN iN tHeIR BUILDINGS/pROgRAms THrOuGh ThIs TImE.
The story made the WGN News this morning; it was a short bit but one thing that the reporter said was that the school would be closing at the end of THIS year which made the 7/8 announcement more surprising. Where would he get that info from?