One hundred and thirty current and former educators at Evanston/Skokie School District 65 have signed a petition calling on the board of education not to lay off a veteran technology and media facilitator.
Wilfred (Fred) Ortiz, who has been with the district for 16 years, was among 22 current employees notified last month that they will not be returning in 2024-25.
District 65 is cutting the budget by nearly $7.4 million, as enrollment continues to decline, and costs continue to go up.
Kelly Best, drama teacher at Lincolnwood Elementary, told the board on Monday night about the petition to keep Ortiz on the payroll, calling him “so valuable” and “so irreplaceable.”
Ironically, Best noted that almost five years ago to the day, Ortiz was given the district’s “High Five” award for excellence in education.
At Lincolnwood, Best said, Ortiz filmed and edited the annual 5th grade music video.
“Without Fred,” she added, “this tradition ends this year.”
“Eliminating Fred’s position,” Best said, “will not only hurt our staff but our students as well.”
Best noted that teaches from every D65 school had signed the petition.
One of those other teachers, from King Arts, said he was “shocked” over Ortiz’s dismissal.
“Despite the need for austerity,” the teacher said, “I find it distressing that our district has dismissed a teacher of teachers who is also a Latino and an Army veteran.”
Ortiz was one of ten support staffers being let go. along with eight teachers and four administrators.
Many of those, Ortiz included, were given “honorable dismissals,” meaning they were not terminated due to any performance issues, but rather for something such as a budget reduction.
Ortiz was not on the original layoff list obtained by Evanston Now, although it turns out he had been notified at the same time as the others.
The district informed Evanston Now that the list had been “incorrectly formatted,” so Ortiz’s name was not on the paperwork originally provided.
Ortiz is the second non-renewed or laid-off employee to have an appeal made to the school board by supporters.
Recently, several parents opposed the dismissal of sustainability director Karen Bireta.
Board officials said that as part of the overall staff downsizing, a number of jobs are being re-created with multiple responsibilities, and Bireta is being encouraged to reapply.
There is no indication if that is a possibility for Ortiz.
I’d agree that the tech skill is very important now and in the future. I really don’t know if the skills being taught are as relevant as they should be but that’s a staff performance issue our Board has ducked since at least the Horton era.
If expenses really are the issue we need to be looking at Drama and related skills which are nice but don’t really prepare students for the earnings challenges they will face.
We all want lots but can’t afford all we want.
The simple fact is that lots of pain is headed to the D65 community due to the 5th Ward School and all of the other exercises in wasting money by the Board and Admin over the last few years.
The upset from the Bessie Rhodes community is understandable but wait until the next round of closures comes, most likely after groundbreaking on the new school and probably after next election.
Once they move the dual language program to Haven what is to become of the staff who aren’t Spanish speakers? Guess they will be another casualty, but you have to break a few eggs to make an equity omelet.