Evanston/Skokie school superintendent Devon Horton says District 65 “board members and administrators get attacked via emails and postcards with death threats.”
Horton’s comments came just before the Board of Education went into a closed-door session to discuss safety and security measures in light of incidents since school began in August. Over the weekend, the car of board member Biz Lindsay-Ryan was vandalized with homophobic slurs. Last fall, board members received a racist email after a national TV news story aired regarding the district’s policies on trying to reduce the achievement gap for students of color.
Board President Anya Tanyavutti said there have been “veiled death threats” since school started “There seems to be no limit to what those opposed to equity will do,” she said.
Tanyavutti added that those making threats and racist comments are “not the majority” in the Evanston/Skokie district, but rather “a loud and vocal small group.”
The specifics of any death threats or veiled death threats were not made public. Tanyavutti said she is calling on the community “to notice when the vestiges of white supremacy resist us standing for justice. This is a threat to our community.”