At this point we need to start holding rallies at every BOE meeting. We need to demand answers on behalf of BR families. The community also should be demanding an independent full audit of everything related to this district —financials, contracts, everything. All results & recommendations should be shared with the community via town halls throughout the community where we get to ask questions and have them answered. Full transparency and accountability.
I also believe that every administrator that was part of the Horton administration, that is still working at the district, should be fired if they’re still working at d65. They enabled this. The same goes for every BOE member —starting with the President —except maybe the last two newest elected. And as for the current administration, every position should be on the table for elimination.
Allowing this to happen (& continue to happen) — I imagine that we don’t even know the half of what “this” is —is the definition of malfeasance & negligence. Everyone and everything should be fully investigated. I hope people are starting to see how ABSOLUTELY INSANE this is.
I’ve contacted the Illinois State Board of Education. I think that they would be the investigating body but they don’t seem to care. Maybe if they had enough letters they might. I like the idea of a rally because it could make the agnostics start paying attention.
I wouldn’t get your hopes up about the ISBE. In my experience, they’re totally clueless - they’re the ones that kept giving D65 awards for their good budgets and Foster school math! People keep saying they want the state to take over but you definitely do not because the ISBE is going to run this place even worse than the current D65 admin!!!
The question you raise about the 21-22 budget is an interesting one. I don't know the answer but the fact that the actual deficit has gone up +/- $3M per year ($7M for 22-23, $10M for 23-24, and $13M for 24-25) says that the $200K surplus for 21-22 is probably fabricated through creative bookkeeping.
It is a little like a Ponzi scheme - move revenue up from one year, delay paying vendors until the next. Rob Peter. Pay Paul. The scheme becomes a problem in subsequent years because you have less money to pay an ever growing mountain of bills and you hit a critical mass ...
I know it’s very hard to tell what’s been done but curious about your feelings on progress at foster? I also drove by yesterday and it didn’t look like a lot of work other than some grading. Would love to know what else they have done so far.
I would add, that's speaking to having an *official* legal mechanism...community members have free reign to organize in various ways to push for things, i.e. a petition or protest. I think where it would get tough is trying to hold blanket accountability for all seven board members when they all have different shares of blame.
The reality is, there are four incumbents and three have not declared their intentions around running again. Part of me would love nothing more than to have the public weigh in on them given the current circumstances we're in under their watch, but it's scary to think of the prospect any of them could be allowed to continue beyond this term.
For the other three, Sergio has been a board member for far longer than the other two and is more deeply attached to most of the current mess given nearly 8 years of being involved. I don't have a great read on Mya, but Omar has seemed to be reasonable. You have to also consider that some of these more tenured board members likely carry disproportionate power in voting, decision making, etc.
Having the entire board just resign overnight probably isn't helpful at this stage, with everything else going on. Asking the current president and longest-tenured board member not up for reelection in the spring to step down might be the biggest acknowledgement of accountability and doing right by the community he serves, but I don't think there's any chance he has the self-awareness to take his medicine. Can't wait for the latest edition of "say it to my face" based on this...
Mya was initially appointed by the people who got us into this mess. So she doesn't have much credibility as an independent voice. Her resume looks good given that she works for the biggest bank in the US. But she works in marketing, and I don't remember her ever bringing up any serious questioning of administration mismanagement.
Granted, I didn't have high expectations but Omar has made a couple of independent votes, but he doesn't appear to be that interested in reform and accountability.
It was good to see Christian Sorensen endorse a public superintendent search process. Both Mya and Omar went along with the secretive process that brought us "Do Not Hire" Turner. In my book that is disqualifying if/when they run for reelection.
For me, the absolute minimum requirement to get my vote is to commit to an open superintendent search process.
I'm with you on doing an open search moving forward. It's a key part of rebuilding public trust and democratizing the process. I am hopeful that enough candidates will share the same view on that particular issue that it's more of a disqualifier for those who don't than something considered a differentiator.
Re: Omar and Mya complying with the closed process, I would imagine there are less obvious/visible dynamics within the board that might influence the amount of going against the grain we see publicly. If you're a stick in the mud right off the bat amid 5 other board members who have been there longer, you might not get their allegiance on other things you'd like to push for.
Do you think we overpay the Supt. or that an open search process would make you feel more comfortable with the pay? Without knowing what other candidates were considered, I'd have to say whoever was "signing up" for the job Dr. Turner has had to consider the choppy waters ahead. Yes, you could argue something like "that comes with the territory", but you can't deny that it increases the level of difficulty of the job to essentially plunge into the deep end of a mess.
Superintendent comp is not the enemy here. Bloated admin and years of inaction to address deficits are.
Her compensation is pretty in-line with what other supes in the area make. I think superintendent compensation in general is a national issue, but not one that Evanston deviates from the norm. I could be wrong but I think she still makes less than the ETHS Supe. The last one, Witherspoon, was making close to $400k in his later years.
I am not worried about the salary in terms of wanting an open process.
I want the open process to ensure public scrutiny and participation. This board is so shameless that maybe it wouldn’t have made a difference. But imagine if Horton had been announced as a finalist. There would surely have been a vocal contingent saying “this guy? What are you thinking?” Regardless board members would have to justify voting for one person out of a finalist pool.
The last two searches the public doesn’t know what the pool looked like. Maybe it was crap. Because they did the search in the dark we will never know.
The incompetence of the Board ranks to gross negligence and should be considered criminal… that’s how you make them accountable
At this point we need to start holding rallies at every BOE meeting. We need to demand answers on behalf of BR families. The community also should be demanding an independent full audit of everything related to this district —financials, contracts, everything. All results & recommendations should be shared with the community via town halls throughout the community where we get to ask questions and have them answered. Full transparency and accountability.
I also believe that every administrator that was part of the Horton administration, that is still working at the district, should be fired if they’re still working at d65. They enabled this. The same goes for every BOE member —starting with the President —except maybe the last two newest elected. And as for the current administration, every position should be on the table for elimination.
Allowing this to happen (& continue to happen) — I imagine that we don’t even know the half of what “this” is —is the definition of malfeasance & negligence. Everyone and everything should be fully investigated. I hope people are starting to see how ABSOLUTELY INSANE this is.
And so, Truth Seeker, I surmise that you'll be running for School Board? I certainly will support you.
Me too!
I’ve contacted the Illinois State Board of Education. I think that they would be the investigating body but they don’t seem to care. Maybe if they had enough letters they might. I like the idea of a rally because it could make the agnostics start paying attention.
I wouldn’t get your hopes up about the ISBE. In my experience, they’re totally clueless - they’re the ones that kept giving D65 awards for their good budgets and Foster school math! People keep saying they want the state to take over but you definitely do not because the ISBE is going to run this place even worse than the current D65 admin!!!
Thank you for all the information. I really appreciate you keeping us informed.
The question you raise about the 21-22 budget is an interesting one. I don't know the answer but the fact that the actual deficit has gone up +/- $3M per year ($7M for 22-23, $10M for 23-24, and $13M for 24-25) says that the $200K surplus for 21-22 is probably fabricated through creative bookkeeping.
It is a little like a Ponzi scheme - move revenue up from one year, delay paying vendors until the next. Rob Peter. Pay Paul. The scheme becomes a problem in subsequent years because you have less money to pay an ever growing mountain of bills and you hit a critical mass ...
I know it’s very hard to tell what’s been done but curious about your feelings on progress at foster? I also drove by yesterday and it didn’t look like a lot of work other than some grading. Would love to know what else they have done so far.
Is it not possible to vote the school board out by means of No Confidence? I am with Truth Seeker, anyone associated with Horton needs to go ASAP.
No such thing exists and most IL governments do not have recalls, including D65 and City of Evanston
I would add, that's speaking to having an *official* legal mechanism...community members have free reign to organize in various ways to push for things, i.e. a petition or protest. I think where it would get tough is trying to hold blanket accountability for all seven board members when they all have different shares of blame.
The reality is, there are four incumbents and three have not declared their intentions around running again. Part of me would love nothing more than to have the public weigh in on them given the current circumstances we're in under their watch, but it's scary to think of the prospect any of them could be allowed to continue beyond this term.
For the other three, Sergio has been a board member for far longer than the other two and is more deeply attached to most of the current mess given nearly 8 years of being involved. I don't have a great read on Mya, but Omar has seemed to be reasonable. You have to also consider that some of these more tenured board members likely carry disproportionate power in voting, decision making, etc.
Having the entire board just resign overnight probably isn't helpful at this stage, with everything else going on. Asking the current president and longest-tenured board member not up for reelection in the spring to step down might be the biggest acknowledgement of accountability and doing right by the community he serves, but I don't think there's any chance he has the self-awareness to take his medicine. Can't wait for the latest edition of "say it to my face" based on this...
Mya was initially appointed by the people who got us into this mess. So she doesn't have much credibility as an independent voice. Her resume looks good given that she works for the biggest bank in the US. But she works in marketing, and I don't remember her ever bringing up any serious questioning of administration mismanagement.
Granted, I didn't have high expectations but Omar has made a couple of independent votes, but he doesn't appear to be that interested in reform and accountability.
It was good to see Christian Sorensen endorse a public superintendent search process. Both Mya and Omar went along with the secretive process that brought us "Do Not Hire" Turner. In my book that is disqualifying if/when they run for reelection.
For me, the absolute minimum requirement to get my vote is to commit to an open superintendent search process.
I'm with you on doing an open search moving forward. It's a key part of rebuilding public trust and democratizing the process. I am hopeful that enough candidates will share the same view on that particular issue that it's more of a disqualifier for those who don't than something considered a differentiator.
Re: Omar and Mya complying with the closed process, I would imagine there are less obvious/visible dynamics within the board that might influence the amount of going against the grain we see publicly. If you're a stick in the mud right off the bat amid 5 other board members who have been there longer, you might not get their allegiance on other things you'd like to push for.
Omar lost me with his ridiculous “combat pay” comment regarding the Supt. salary.
Do you think we overpay the Supt. or that an open search process would make you feel more comfortable with the pay? Without knowing what other candidates were considered, I'd have to say whoever was "signing up" for the job Dr. Turner has had to consider the choppy waters ahead. Yes, you could argue something like "that comes with the territory", but you can't deny that it increases the level of difficulty of the job to essentially plunge into the deep end of a mess.
Superintendent comp is not the enemy here. Bloated admin and years of inaction to address deficits are.
Her compensation is pretty in-line with what other supes in the area make. I think superintendent compensation in general is a national issue, but not one that Evanston deviates from the norm. I could be wrong but I think she still makes less than the ETHS Supe. The last one, Witherspoon, was making close to $400k in his later years.
I am not worried about the salary in terms of wanting an open process.
I want the open process to ensure public scrutiny and participation. This board is so shameless that maybe it wouldn’t have made a difference. But imagine if Horton had been announced as a finalist. There would surely have been a vocal contingent saying “this guy? What are you thinking?” Regardless board members would have to justify voting for one person out of a finalist pool.
The last two searches the public doesn’t know what the pool looked like. Maybe it was crap. Because they did the search in the dark we will never know.
It has nothing to do with the pay; I was commenting on my disappointment with Omar. The “combat pay” comment was a stupid dig at the community.