The new superintendent of Evanston/Skokie School District 65 will not have to live in the district she leads.
Under a Freedom of Information Act request, Evanston Now received a copy of Angel Turner’s contract, approved last week by the Board of Education.
Turner was promoted from interim superintendent, a position she held since previous D65 leader Devon Horton left for a similar job in Georgia last year.
Turner’s contract states that “In lieu of residency in the District, which Board policy requirement the Board suspends…,” Turner would have to maintain a “presence as a leader in the community.”
The agreement adds that “This may mean the Superintendent and the Board prioritize the community engagement the Superintendent should be present for, and those where she can send a representative on her behalf.”
Horton’s contract required him to move into District 65 within one year of taking office, and even provided an $8,000 moving allowance.
However, Horton was coming here from Louisville, Kentucky, while Turner has spent her entire career in and around Chicago, joining District 65 in 2021 as director of literacy, then moving up to assistant superintendent, interim superintendent, and now the permanent top position.
There are no residency requirements for non-superintendent administrative jobs in D65.
Turner’s salary, effective July 1, will be the same starting pay as Horton received, $250,000 per year. There are no raises built in to the three-year deal, but increases are possible after annual reviews. (Turner will continue to receive her interim salary, $215,000, until July 1).
Horton’s pay was bumped to $262,500 when the school board extended his contract even before it ran out. But then Horton ran out, taking a $325,000 salary as superintendent in DeKalb County, Georgia.
In case Turner leaves for another job before her three-year contract ends, there is the same penalty clause ($15,000 to $25,000, depending on when notice is given).
Horton, however, had not been sending what he owed in a timely manner, leading the school board to demand that he pay up.
In District 202, Superintendent Marcus Campbell does not live in the district. Eric Witherspoon, his predecessor, did.
However, as with the Turner/Horton comparison, Campbell had been with D202 for many years before becoming superintendent, while Witherspoon was hired from out of town.
Why was the requirement to be a resident put in place to begin with for these Leadership roles? It was important enough that it was drafted and approved to make it a requirement.
“In lieu,” how does that reconcile with the intent of the requirement to actually be a “resident stakeholder?”
A resident leader truly “lives” with the decisions they make that impact their neighbors and the very place with which they live. One can assume you may also have more accountability for your decisions.
Past statements such as the one by Board member Biz Lidsay-Ryan
“The superintendent needs to be able to go home and recharge” due to the “level of resistance and threat” which can exist, and that could mean living outside of the district.
And also the disrespectful statements from Board member Omar Salem, he said while he “sees some value” in residency, it might be a good idea to offer an “added stipend” if the new superintendent lived in the district voluntarily.
“Combat pay,” Salem said, with a laugh.
As a Board Members and then also as a highly paid leader of of the District’s most important residents the children, & director of their education, to show what courage looks like in the face of adversity is a powerful message. Not standing up and living amongst the community because of hateful “words” and not even words confirmed as coming from community members anyway, it sends an equally powerful message to those children and also to those that wished to inflict fear & discomfort.
This Schoolboard that impacts the direction of the children’s education wants to teach the kids that as long as you can afford to you can just run from challenges.
Threats are terrible and challenging (and no proof by the way any threats to Horton even came from the community), but hiding away for personal comfort?
Then don’t take the job because you’re not up for the task, even if the Board enablers wont require you to be.
I wonder how many of the youth that attend D65 schools wish they could also live outside of their neighborhoods, because of the inability for them to recharge due to “actual” threats and real “challenges” they face on a daily basis WITHOUT COMBAT PAY Mr Salem ( I am not laughing when I wrote that though).
How many of the current board members & the Superintendent wouldn’t lead the lives they have if our past Community leaders took that same approach during real times of Daily struggle and adversity.
Did they not keep the same curriculum from the old King Lab school by the Foster center? Where we ALL learned about the “real courage” of our schools namesake, to not run but fight against injustice.
I was 6 years old & in class at King Lab in the 1970’s, when I first heard the MLK quote. “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. -Martin Luther King Jr.
It has stuck with me and shaped the direction of my entire life and helped me defend all members of my Evanston community against injustice and fear.
& Do Better Board Members et al, your batting average is embarrassingly low, you might need to get benched for better players.