Anatomy of $100,000 District 65 Spend

I FOIA'ed a single account, see what I found

Nov 3, 2022

I want to understand how funding works in public school districts. For instance, the District 65 Board approves all contracts over $25,000/year at their monthly meetings. These are contracts requested by the Administration and approved by our elected School Board. Here's an example from the October 2022 Meeting:

The highlighted section had some interesting additional information on a funding source that might differ from the others. This is an excellent place to start. I submitted a FOIA for a copy of the original contract, the extended contract, and any details on that particular funding source. My understanding is that this contract with Scholastic is for a family survey. $87,000 is pricey for a Qualitrics link, but perhaps there is analysis work that goes along with it. I would like to know.

I got about half the response I wanted - they sent me:

A copy of the 2021 Signed Contract and Scope of Work.
A copy of the 2022 Extension but without the Scope of Work. I’ve requested in another FOIA more 2022 details.
A list of transactions on the funding source for calendar year 2021 only.

The contract itself is interesting but more interesting is the list of transactions on the funding source. Looks like it is some an account that has a $100,000 budget (they spent $99,994.82). Let’s see where this $100,000 went:

We can go through the vendors on this particular list.

Lifeworks Coaching and Training - "We partner with internal resources to help leaders expand their capacity to build trust and grow capacity for full inclusion. This includes Executive coaching, Group coaching, Leadership Team Development, and New leader on-boarding."
Anna Marin - "Consultant for social change nonprofits and community organizations."
Scholastic - Scholastic is large corporation that does consulting, printing, and other things for districts. The 2021 contract is for consulting services and the Dr. Mapp Family Engagement Workshop Series.
Evanston Community Foundation - "Founded in 1986, the Evanston Community Foundation helps Evanston thrive now and forever as a vibrant, inclusive, and equitable community. It builds, connects, and distributes resources and knowledge through local organizations for the common good."
Books and Breakfast - “Books & Breakfast is a before-school program offering a nutritious breakfast, homework assistance, and emotional care to Evanston students needing additional support. B&B exists so that every student enters their classroom physically, emotionally, and academically prepared.”
Panorama Education, Inc. - “Panorama pulls your key student information into one spot and gives you visual dashboard reporting.”

What percentage of this $100,000 went to direct services for District 65 students or families? Only two vendors on this list meet this criterion: Books and Breakfast and the Evanston Community Foundation. The rest are life coaches, consultants, and a dashboard tool for administrators.

So what? This account is perhaps a consultant fund of some kind, and $100,000 spent for consulting as a fraction of the District's almost $80,000,000 budget is a rounding error (0.125%). The problem is that:

Not all the spending on this account is consulting. Such as Books and Breakfast, which seems to be a service.
This is one account of many; you're welcome to view my spreadsheet of District bills paid. At least dozens of consultants and coaches do not show up in this account but regularly bill the district for services.
The district is facing serious budget issues as soon as school year 2024.

What is the coaches' and workshops' return on investment (ROI) for the District? In what way have these workshops improve student or family relationships? How do they improve test scores? Do they move the needle on the opportunity gap? So far, all evidence indicates worse test scores, falling enrollment, and impending financial disaster. This is one example of many I intend to document where District 65 misuses funds that should go to services for our children by wasting it on coaches, consultants, workshops and other activities with very little to show for it.