Some people currently working in Evanston/Skokie School District 65 are being let go when the school year ends, but the Board of Education is not releasing any numbers or names, at least not now.
The financially strapped district needs to cut $5 million to $6 million from next school year’s budget, according to Superintendent Angela Turner.
In a special meeting late Friday afternoon, the board passed two job-reduction resolutions.
The first authorized “the Non-Renewal of Administrative Contracts and Honorable Dismissal of Administrators.”
The second okayed a “Reduction in Force of Education Support Personnel.”
Both resolutions ended with the phrase, “as noted,” but nothing was noted publicly about who and how many are being cut, nor did it say if some of the positions are currently vacant and are merely being removed from the budget.
For example, the D65 jobs-available board shows 46 educational support positions the district has been trying to fill.
But board member Biz Lindsay-Ryan said there is “a cohort of people being discharged.”
Lindsay-Ryan said the timing of the resolutions was done to give those facing unemployment more notice so they have more time to look for another job.
The board, she said, wants to give the staffers “respect and dignity in the process,” with “an extra commitment from all of us to make sure our people are taken care of.”
One name on the cut list did come out, but not from the board nor the administration.
Half-a-dozen environmental and climate activists addressed the board, complaining that Sustainability Director Karen Bireta was losing her position.
The speakers used phrases such as being “pretty shocked with what’s happening right now,” and that eliminating the sustainability post would be “an egregious step backwards.”
District leaders did not deny that Bireta is facing layoff, but Superintendent Angela Turner said, “I’m really not sure where the misunderstanding came from that this district does not care about sustainability.”
Turner said that D65 will have a “science and sustainability education coordinator, allowing us to teach everybody about sustainability and climate change.”
Lindsay-Ryan said the district is “re-imagining the position” to have a broader scope.
Bireta, officials noted, would be able to re-apply for the new position.
District spokesperson Melissa Messinger told Evanston Now that specifics on the budget reduction plan should be released at the April 15 Finance Committee meeting.
Evanston Now has also filed a Freedom of Information Act request for names and numbers.
It should not come as a surprise if administrative positions are cut.
According to consultant Robert Grossi, the student:administrator ratio has shown more people in charge of fewer students over the past several years.
In a recent presentation to the board, Grossi indicated that there were 173.6 students per administrator in 2018, but only 93.3 students per administrator in 2023.