District 65 Gets an Independent Financial Review
Someone other than me is finally reading all the finance committee slide decks and spreadsheets
Brief Programming Note: I said I was going into foiagras retirement but I haven’t completely made up my mind on that. I spoke with a lot of readers and this blog has a role beyond my writing and the comment section provides a lot of value to the community. So I’m not closing it down but I am going to try to find new voices to add to the mix since my professional life has been so busy lately.
To anyone who has been reading this blog, one topic I have written about several times is the dire state of the Evanston District 65 finances.
August 2023 - District 65's Surprise/Not Surprise Budget Problems
I’m often asked the question, “Why doesn’t District 65 hire an outside auditor to provide a non-biased report of the state of the school district’s finances?”
Well, dear reader, you’ve got your wish and the findings are not good. In fact, it is is even worse than the predictions I was making. You can read the slide deck here. The Evanston Roundtable also has excellent reporting on this story.
Here’s the brief summary of findings, with the notable slides included. In terms of scale, it is perhaps useful to recall that the District’s entire annual budget is around $150 million.
Staffing continues to grow annually as enrollment declines. Recall that District 65 is mostly funded through local taxes independent of enrollment - more than 70% of incoming revenue would be the same whether the District had 1 or 10000 students.
By 2029, the operating deficit will be $14.5 million per year. The 2017 referendum funds will be gone and there will be almost no cash reserves left.
District 65 has about $188 million in facilities needs by 2030. This is just a mindbogglingly large number. That’s more than the annual budget for the entire district worth of repairs.
By 2042, the total Fifth Ward School cost (all in) will be $64,500,000. The annual cost to taxpayers is $3.25m and I’ve written tirelessly on the made-up financial estimates the District put out in 2022.
Board Priorities
None of the findings in this auditor’s report are new information. The finance committee has reported on this budgetary crisis for years, going back even before COVID. 1
I think it is fair to ask, where has the School Board been and where does the community go from here?
As evidence, consider the results of the Superintendent Survey that was published in November 2023.2 Compare the Board’s desired skills in a Superintendent versus the Parents or community members. Financial expertise isn’t even in the top 10 things the Board is searching for! This is a major problem and it is hard to envision a District that can truly meet their equity goals (which is a board priority) without financial diligence even on the radar.
It’s not clear to me where the Board can go from here - surely there a few options:
Closing Schools and Selling Land - This appears to be the case with Bessie Rhodes and it is unclear what other options are available.
Reducing the Size of the Administrative Apparatus - According to my research D65 spends almost $2800 per student on administrative costs, one of the highest in the state.
Additional Referendum - By State Law, the Fifth Ward School absolutely should’ve required a referendum, but one was not held because the District continued to falsely contend there were $3-$5m in bussing savings. They can certainly hold another one for building repair and maintenance
Terminating Work on the New School - I’ve voiced support for the new fifth ward school .. but the financial burden is quite serious and it is less of a win if it’s a zero sum game and other students lose their local school. Recall that the Board promised in May 2022 that other schools would not close as part of the new construction.
I leave this one to the comment section.
It was COVID that actually prevented these 2019 bad numbers from becoming a reality due to the influx of federal funds to patch budget gaps. Approximately $10m came in through various COVID relief programs.
Put aside the absolutely horrible survey statistics that they do in this report.
Here's what we know...
- At the start of the 2024-2025 School year D65 will be on it's 7 superintendent. That's less than a two year average for leadership.
- Look at the number of central office leaders who were in place in 2012 and look at the number now.
- The BOE has known for more than a decade schools were crumbling and have chosen to do nothing to fix infrastructures and basic needs of buildings which are nearing 100 years old.
- In 2017, the campaign around the referendum was to keep programs, improve buildings, and make upgrades to expand 21st century learning and opportunities none of which has happened... just more spending and less accountability.
- How is it that the BOE can say building a new school on the back of equity is the right thing to do with deficit spending, low test scores, and no one holding anyone accountable at a leadership level is the right thing to do... not to mention what do the Northwest Evanston schools look like when you eliminate the students who are bussed to those schools from the fifth ward? Not very diverse... what does the demographic of Haven look like if you take away the fifth ward students?
- One more question.... how many of the vested leaders who were moving D65 in what was seemingly a better direction 7-8 years ago are still in those positions at the district and/or building level? D65 used to work hard to build capacity within buildings and the community and now you are left with a large constituency of individuals who know nothing about Evanston, are not vested in the community and think they know what Evanston is, but have not taken the time to learn REALLY about the needs of the community and its children.
The sad thing is the loudest voices have chosen to stop talking and, as you noted, pull their children out of Evanston schools. They love the community, love the environment, love the interactions, but would rather pay for private school then deal with trying to change what is the worst Evanston schools have been in many many years.
It’s time. It’s time for the board to resign en masse. It’s time for the administration to turn over to a group of people that actually knows what they are doing. It’s time for the reasonable/rational Evanston tax payers to stop being bullied by a group of people that shouts “Racism! Inequity!” at views that are counter to their beliefs.
I urge readers of this blog to write/call the school board and demand change. This group of people has completely mishandled the finances of the district, choosing to ignore challenges staring them in the face while focusing on coming up w land acknowledgment statements, non-academic curriculum and justice circles causing a mass exodus of students and families (of which my family was part of).
There is not one sector in the country where people could individually and collectively screw up their duties and responsibilities so poorly and remain in their positions, keeping the status quo. Look at those building maintenance costs! Look at enrollment! Look at our costs! Look at all of Tom’s exceptional, meticulous reporting on the missteps along the way!
It’s clear. Change is needed immediately to avoid even more damage. Please demand it.