If any board members read this… one of the biggest issues you have is insufficient local financial disclosure and conflict of interest regulations and guidelines for your employees. If you had them, a lot of this would have been prevented back in 2020.
I do think ISBE can provide guidance on board policies, and that is the correct place to turn to first, but financial disclosure and conflict of interest policies would not be part of a financial review. You should include this as part of your overhaul.
So should DeKalb. Dr. Horton & his associates were bad actors, but districts are responsible for making themselves less vulnerable.
+1000000 that half of these problems could be solved with good whistleblower rules and a pathway for reporting things to the BoE without repercussions. If all your staff are using anonymous emails and reaching out to journalists with fraud you should know about, that's a problem!
Why on earth is Sergio still on the board?!? He was a not a bystander as he is posing to be. He actively failed to ask the questions or do the job he was hired to do. Plus, he is a Class A dimwit. Audit 20 years? That’s practical. Tell me what we need to do to lose this dead weight.
My top guess: He is one of the 17 witnesses in Horton’s case and being a board member gives him access to legal counsel for any issues from his tenure as president that he otherwise would not have if he resigned.
The more I learn about this, the more I am staggered by the degree of D65 Board willing blindness and apparent incompetence. Is it any wonder that the community distrusts the school closing process? Tom, thank you again for returning to the field to help us stay informed about these sordid messes.
Second the part about Ms. Mitchell. Shortly after she was hired, I was talking with someone else in the school finance world and they said that she was "the real deal." She has been living up to that.
Once the Foster School is open and the existing crisis is behind us, I'm going to genuinely apply heat to the City of Evanston to see if they can give some kind of outstanding public servant award to Kirby Callum and Tamara Mitchell. Maybe I'll make a petition or something.
This is a prudent step, of course. But beyond looking for evidence of further financial crimes and mismanagement, the board should answer more basic questions about the district’s financial acumen.
For example, how is it possible to “misunderstand” Foster coming in $3m under budget, and why hasn’t CFO Mitchell been asked to identify admin cost savings?
Good. In previous Board meetings, when it was time for citizens to speak up. I asked time and time again for a forensic audit.
Also, it seems that Sergio wants to expand the audit to previous years. This is my take on what is going on in his mind: "They will find discrepancies when I was running the Board; however, the discrepancies will be much higher if they go further back when I wasn't around."
At this moment, Sergio doesn't care who he takes down in order for him to survive.
FWIW I believe the city has first right of refusal for any of the D65 properties if the district chooses to sell so it’s not a forgone conclusion that selling means the properties are gone from the public trust.
This is off point, but what happens to the buildings in the case of further school closures. Bessie Rhodes will close at the end of this year. According to this morning's Roundtable the potential school closure list includes Kingsley and either Willard or Lincolnwood. Kingsley, located on Lincoln Street at Green Bay Road, is a large building with a huge green space area for soccer and other activities. Will this just be turned over to developers? Here is the link to the Roundtable's report:
Furthermore, as Larry Gavin continues to write in the Roundtable, There are more FTE's (full time employees) than in 2018-19 although enrollment has declined. Obviously, there was not enough time to discuss this issue in last night's meeting. Here is the link to his report:
There has not been enough time for a thorough analysis of the above issues. In my opinion, the entire process should be slowed down. Meeting for 3-4 hours a few times a month does not provide sufficient time for careful deliberation.
I don't think its known yet what will happen with the properties. The position I have is that selling the land should be the absolute last ditch thing we do. Once that land is gone, it's gone from the public trust forever. We're not making new land. They should maintain the land as green space (as they did with the Foster lot) and maybe in some future build a new school there. But in reality, developers are chomping at the bit for some of these plots, and I don't feel good about that. Evanston land is valuable.
All of the intricate connections between high up D65 admins and Horton give me weird vibes. I’m a conspiracy theorist at heart but Horton wasn’t doing all of this alone. (And I’m not just talking about co-defendants.) There has been a lot of time to clean stuff up—-between when it happened and the forensic audits. The results of the forensic audit may still be interesting.
When a supt has their sister hired for a six figure administrative job in the district, then that supt is effectively compromised and less able to make needed administrative staff cuts, lest a spotlight be shown on her sister being a nepotism hire by the other staffers who would be rightfully angry about their job being cut while sis is still on the payroll.
I'm sure that there are smarter people than me looking at what has been taking place. If this investigation of Horton is the result of a several years of investigation and with the wildly erratic transportaion costs to name only one item why didn't the Board call in the forensec squad earlier? Not withstanding what the new CFO is doing, this situation screams out loud a total lack of fidcuiary responsibility by the Board and the Administration. Moreover, has anyone put any hard numbers in place on what it costs to close a school, reduce administrative positions, reward the high performing teachers, return to financial stability, and identify a step by step timeline for achieving the best outcomes for all of our stundents?
Thank you ... it's about time....so much to uncover all over this city... obscene number of high rise rental buildings that promise low income housing that never lives up to the mark.. might want to discuss our population is declining because there is no new housing to purchase just to rent creating a more transient society...closing schools... renting a massive amount of space in a high rise for city offices ...no green spaces considered.... Fountain Square..has anyone discussed with the city insurance the liability that comes with all those fountains to play in? "Old Orchard" had to cap them, the liability was too high. Forget the fact that they hired a questionable company to begin with...and I'm just getting started
Tom, do you know what's going on with Slide 34 on the presentation last night? There's a line item for "Less A/C & Bessie Rhodes" that is about ~1/3 of the overall number. I'm having a hard time understanding this - if that's air conditioning costs, why on earth is that listed under the master facility plan? The speaker seemed to indicate that those costs should be ignored so that the deferred maintenance seemed much lower than previously discussed, but if that's true, it seems like that's just hiding the cost of A/C off the books. Hopefully that's not what is happening and there's an explanation for this.
As I understood it the a/c money is for putting in central air for schools that don't have it. They said something to the effect that they can't completely remove the a/c costs because if they don't install central air some window units need replacing/maintenance
If any board members read this… one of the biggest issues you have is insufficient local financial disclosure and conflict of interest regulations and guidelines for your employees. If you had them, a lot of this would have been prevented back in 2020.
I do think ISBE can provide guidance on board policies, and that is the correct place to turn to first, but financial disclosure and conflict of interest policies would not be part of a financial review. You should include this as part of your overhaul.
So should DeKalb. Dr. Horton & his associates were bad actors, but districts are responsible for making themselves less vulnerable.
+1000000 that half of these problems could be solved with good whistleblower rules and a pathway for reporting things to the BoE without repercussions. If all your staff are using anonymous emails and reaching out to journalists with fraud you should know about, that's a problem!
Why on earth is Sergio still on the board?!? He was a not a bystander as he is posing to be. He actively failed to ask the questions or do the job he was hired to do. Plus, he is a Class A dimwit. Audit 20 years? That’s practical. Tell me what we need to do to lose this dead weight.
My top guess: He is one of the 17 witnesses in Horton’s case and being a board member gives him access to legal counsel for any issues from his tenure as president that he otherwise would not have if he resigned.
The more I learn about this, the more I am staggered by the degree of D65 Board willing blindness and apparent incompetence. Is it any wonder that the community distrusts the school closing process? Tom, thank you again for returning to the field to help us stay informed about these sordid messes.
Second the part about Ms. Mitchell. Shortly after she was hired, I was talking with someone else in the school finance world and they said that she was "the real deal." She has been living up to that.
Once the Foster School is open and the existing crisis is behind us, I'm going to genuinely apply heat to the City of Evanston to see if they can give some kind of outstanding public servant award to Kirby Callum and Tamara Mitchell. Maybe I'll make a petition or something.
This is a prudent step, of course. But beyond looking for evidence of further financial crimes and mismanagement, the board should answer more basic questions about the district’s financial acumen.
For example, how is it possible to “misunderstand” Foster coming in $3m under budget, and why hasn’t CFO Mitchell been asked to identify admin cost savings?
https://evanstonroundtable.com/2025/11/04/district-65-board-divided-over-school-closures/
https://evanstonroundtable.com/2025/11/02/guest-essay-district-65-employees-enrollment/
Good. In previous Board meetings, when it was time for citizens to speak up. I asked time and time again for a forensic audit.
Also, it seems that Sergio wants to expand the audit to previous years. This is my take on what is going on in his mind: "They will find discrepancies when I was running the Board; however, the discrepancies will be much higher if they go further back when I wasn't around."
At this moment, Sergio doesn't care who he takes down in order for him to survive.
What a pleasure to see a new Foia Gras post in my inbox. Thank you, Tom, for your excellent reporting. As always, I learned something new.
FWIW I believe the city has first right of refusal for any of the D65 properties if the district chooses to sell so it’s not a forgone conclusion that selling means the properties are gone from the public trust.
This is off point, but what happens to the buildings in the case of further school closures. Bessie Rhodes will close at the end of this year. According to this morning's Roundtable the potential school closure list includes Kingsley and either Willard or Lincolnwood. Kingsley, located on Lincoln Street at Green Bay Road, is a large building with a huge green space area for soccer and other activities. Will this just be turned over to developers? Here is the link to the Roundtable's report:
https://evanstonroundtable.com/2025/11/04/district-65-board-divided-over-school-closures/
Furthermore, as Larry Gavin continues to write in the Roundtable, There are more FTE's (full time employees) than in 2018-19 although enrollment has declined. Obviously, there was not enough time to discuss this issue in last night's meeting. Here is the link to his report:
https://evanstonroundtable.com/2025/11/02/guest-essay-district-65-employees-enrollment/
There has not been enough time for a thorough analysis of the above issues. In my opinion, the entire process should be slowed down. Meeting for 3-4 hours a few times a month does not provide sufficient time for careful deliberation.
I don't think its known yet what will happen with the properties. The position I have is that selling the land should be the absolute last ditch thing we do. Once that land is gone, it's gone from the public trust forever. We're not making new land. They should maintain the land as green space (as they did with the Foster lot) and maybe in some future build a new school there. But in reality, developers are chomping at the bit for some of these plots, and I don't feel good about that. Evanston land is valuable.
I don't feel good about this either. We know who are friends with our current mayor - developers! Thank you for explaining.
All of the intricate connections between high up D65 admins and Horton give me weird vibes. I’m a conspiracy theorist at heart but Horton wasn’t doing all of this alone. (And I’m not just talking about co-defendants.) There has been a lot of time to clean stuff up—-between when it happened and the forensic audits. The results of the forensic audit may still be interesting.
"Administrator Stipends" is doing a lot of work here. That could mean a lot of stuff
When a supt has their sister hired for a six figure administrative job in the district, then that supt is effectively compromised and less able to make needed administrative staff cuts, lest a spotlight be shown on her sister being a nepotism hire by the other staffers who would be rightfully angry about their job being cut while sis is still on the payroll.
I'm sure that there are smarter people than me looking at what has been taking place. If this investigation of Horton is the result of a several years of investigation and with the wildly erratic transportaion costs to name only one item why didn't the Board call in the forensec squad earlier? Not withstanding what the new CFO is doing, this situation screams out loud a total lack of fidcuiary responsibility by the Board and the Administration. Moreover, has anyone put any hard numbers in place on what it costs to close a school, reduce administrative positions, reward the high performing teachers, return to financial stability, and identify a step by step timeline for achieving the best outcomes for all of our stundents?
Thank you ... it's about time....so much to uncover all over this city... obscene number of high rise rental buildings that promise low income housing that never lives up to the mark.. might want to discuss our population is declining because there is no new housing to purchase just to rent creating a more transient society...closing schools... renting a massive amount of space in a high rise for city offices ...no green spaces considered.... Fountain Square..has anyone discussed with the city insurance the liability that comes with all those fountains to play in? "Old Orchard" had to cap them, the liability was too high. Forget the fact that they hired a questionable company to begin with...and I'm just getting started
Tom, do you know what's going on with Slide 34 on the presentation last night? There's a line item for "Less A/C & Bessie Rhodes" that is about ~1/3 of the overall number. I'm having a hard time understanding this - if that's air conditioning costs, why on earth is that listed under the master facility plan? The speaker seemed to indicate that those costs should be ignored so that the deferred maintenance seemed much lower than previously discussed, but if that's true, it seems like that's just hiding the cost of A/C off the books. Hopefully that's not what is happening and there's an explanation for this.
As I understood it the a/c money is for putting in central air for schools that don't have it. They said something to the effect that they can't completely remove the a/c costs because if they don't install central air some window units need replacing/maintenance
Thanks, that assuages my concerns.