They clearly don't have a plan and are lurching from one disaster to another like Mr. Toad's wild ride. Personal thanks to Duncan Agnew for the great metaphor.
This district is in no financial condition and has no competence to be launching construction of a new school. Board members were already discussing the closure of 4-5 schools even…
They clearly don't have a plan and are lurching from one disaster to another like Mr. Toad's wild ride. Personal thanks to Duncan Agnew for the great metaphor.
This district is in no financial condition and has no competence to be launching construction of a new school. Board members were already discussing the closure of 4-5 schools even before the latest financial bombshells. Proceeding with the 5th Ward school, under current conditions, would lead to an unfinished school (The Pit), debt service costing the equivalent of 30 educators annually at current run rates, no money to complete even a severely compromised underfunded school with a litany of cut corners leading to, among other things, unhealthy breathing conditions which are downright dangerous in our new post-pandemic world (Loss of LEED certification and indoor EQ), completely unequipped and unfurnished and, given impact to funding, no money for teachers. All while impacting even more children district-wide with reduced teachers, programs and likely the closing of an additional school beyond the aforementioned 4-5. How many children will suffer from the financial dislocations of this incompetence? I agree that the legacy of this board and administration will be one of financial malfeasance and not a victory lap around a new school. It will never be built and every penny spent will be wasted. The prudent thing to do would be to negotiate a return of capital to lease certificate holders under a forbearance agreement. They’re already comically and demonstrably in violation of almost every single one of their debt covenants and certainly all the major ones. Better to negotiate it now while the principal is still intact and available. The disaster scenario is the fall-out of inevitable litigation when the district is unable to make debt service. Which is in 90 days.
I agree with their decision to move forward with an external consultant to handle what would've been the SAP3 process and to figure out the nasty job of "right-sizing" this mess, if only to remove authority from a body that has created a complete crisis of confidence and never ceases to outdo themselves in establishing new standards of financial and educational mismanagement. Why give these people the authority to completely disrupt the lives of 5-6 schools worth of children and teachers and community all for the sake of their vanity project?
Two things are urgently necessary:
1. The guidance and inputs given to the external consultant must be completely public and with absolutely no preconditions. How can a brand-new school be set in stone when the district obviously can’t afford it and it will have a further devastating impact on the finances of the district? All options for closure and cost savings must be on the table and there can be no sacred cows other than the highest standards of academic achievement under current constraints.
2. A complete and thorough external audit. The removal of the existing auditing firm with potential for litigation for malpractice. Given the likelihood taxes will need to go up +20% in an atmosphere of drastically reduced services, the taxpayers and parents have a right to know where the money went. Given the heavy financial burden and impact to children’s lives and education, not having complete accountability would be a miscarriage of justice and an abnegation of responsibility. There must be accountability. The board and administration can be expected to balk at this…for all too obvious reasons. All the more reason to push for it.
4-5 schools would be so extreme...even trying to close 1-2 more than BR, which seems like all but a certainty at this point, is going to be extremely hard for them to do. Even counting BR, I do not know how you close that many schools here AND build a new Foster school.
1. Is that transparency to the public something a consultancy typically provides? I think Foster School is "set in stone" unless actual clear evidence is presented laying out the process and financial implications of pulling the plug, and it's clear that it would have a major impact in the projected financial picture. I don't think Foster School construction cost overruns are factored into the current year budget, or there would be more pushback (scary). The real question is WHY, other than it not being financially beneficial during a time of financial crisis, would there be zero talk whatsoever about what would happen if we halted the project.
2. I think Tom FOIA'ed Baker Tilly audits from recent years, so we should have some idea of what's been looked at pretty soon. Either they flagged things that were missed/ignored (Board's fault) or they missed/ignored red flags (BT's fault for missing, responsibility of Board for hiring them).
3. Would you speak at one of the next board meetings to push for the above? If not, what's the best channel to actually exert this kind of pressure? The IL OIG?
So to finish the project, you need about $8 million buckazoids. Where they getting that from? Maybe Bessie Rhodes building will throw in a couple million. The rest???
They have $4m for contingencies in the budget (see above doc) and if everything goes perfect, maybe they can use that. But it's still not enough and that's the only room for error they really have. If something like HVAC goes way over budget, they're screwed.
I think in order for this to continue, the administration needs to prove to the board that the project can be fully funded. I just don't see how that's possible given the existing circumstances.
Also, it is inarguable that the project is still being funded at the expense of other things we can no longer afford. There's a $2.5M gap between the bus savings the project was approved on and the actual projected savings (which btw, we can still achieve by continuing with new student assignment mapping even if the new school is not built in the near future). This means not only the $8m you referenced, but an ongoing $2.5M of the existing budget that's needing to be pulled in from elsewhere to make our annual $3.3M payment.
We could literally buy Grecian Kitchen with one year of that $2.5M and lock in the D65 Admin free lunches for good.
Ahh, thanks for sharing the link to the audited financials. Seems like it was insufficient then?
re: Bessie sale closing the gap, how does that work? BR is still planned to be open through probably early June 2026. If the Foster School is slated for completion, and we're relying on proceeds from BR sale, we'd need a buyer lined up to close almost immediately after the conclusion of SY25-26 and the funds to clear. Not sure that's something you can bank on.
I also question the projected revenue from selling Bessie Rhodes. We have heard from D65 that the building appraises for: $2 million, $3 million, $4 million, $5 million. We have never been given a source for any of these appraisals. Furthermore, Bessie Rhodes abuts Skokie's Timber Ridge Park. You cannot develop on this parkland. Any potential buyer is working with a very confined footprint. And finally, yes: none of the money from selling Bessie Rhodes will come to D65 BEFORE the new Foster School is completed, so it cannot be used to help PAY for the new Foster School...unless contractors now accept "promises" upon completion of work.
I haven't seen any of them in the most recent Roundtable article yet. Regarding the algorithm changes, are you saying that we aren't able to see their comments at all? I checked and I haven't seen anything from them on FB. I can't imagine how they could continue to spin this, but I am sure they have their angle. Which is insane at this point.
Actually, silence might be a strategy here. Avoid bringing it up, let the early phases of construction crawl along, enough that having to undo contracts, negotiate prepayment, and also budget for replacing everything that's been demoed at the site thus far is prohibitive and keeping the project going is the "best" option.
It is truly sad that the forum treated as the broader place for D65 parents and caregivers to discuss important and relevant issues has been so stifled that NOBODY is willing to discuss the five-alarm fire that's going on right now.
Well we are discussing it here and this is a much more constructive place to do it.
I also thought about how they are just going to keep ignoring emails from the community about canceling the school until it is at a point of no return and then they will say, "Oh, we looked into it (as weeks go by and construction is fully underway) and its too late, sorry." The level of corruption here knows no bounds. They just want to pad their resumes and jump ship just like Horton and the CFO Obefami.
Oh I agree with you on this being a more constructive setting to do so...I do worry about this turning into a bit of an echo chamber, where other people (especially newer to Evanston and D65) haven't come across this substack and are less aware of much of this discussion that's happening, while the unofficial D65 FB group is 80% announcements about upcoming events.
During the upcoming election cycle, I have a feeling that page will heat up, and unfortunately it has reach (4.4k members).
This place becoming an echo chamber is extremely concerning to me and something I've been thinking a lot about lately. I'm going to do some thinking to find a way to reign it in. My early efforts to shitpost in the comments in order to keep the conversation going, at this point, may be too much
I think one way would be to keep bringing visibility to this Substack in the FB page to draw in broader audience and viewpoints. So many of us have found this place very informative on the posts alone, not even accounting for the exchanges of thoughts, ideas, rants in the comments. The FB page is often just a place where people post links to relevant info and events, so might as well use it as a launching pad.
They clearly don't have a plan and are lurching from one disaster to another like Mr. Toad's wild ride. Personal thanks to Duncan Agnew for the great metaphor.
This district is in no financial condition and has no competence to be launching construction of a new school. Board members were already discussing the closure of 4-5 schools even before the latest financial bombshells. Proceeding with the 5th Ward school, under current conditions, would lead to an unfinished school (The Pit), debt service costing the equivalent of 30 educators annually at current run rates, no money to complete even a severely compromised underfunded school with a litany of cut corners leading to, among other things, unhealthy breathing conditions which are downright dangerous in our new post-pandemic world (Loss of LEED certification and indoor EQ), completely unequipped and unfurnished and, given impact to funding, no money for teachers. All while impacting even more children district-wide with reduced teachers, programs and likely the closing of an additional school beyond the aforementioned 4-5. How many children will suffer from the financial dislocations of this incompetence? I agree that the legacy of this board and administration will be one of financial malfeasance and not a victory lap around a new school. It will never be built and every penny spent will be wasted. The prudent thing to do would be to negotiate a return of capital to lease certificate holders under a forbearance agreement. They’re already comically and demonstrably in violation of almost every single one of their debt covenants and certainly all the major ones. Better to negotiate it now while the principal is still intact and available. The disaster scenario is the fall-out of inevitable litigation when the district is unable to make debt service. Which is in 90 days.
I agree with their decision to move forward with an external consultant to handle what would've been the SAP3 process and to figure out the nasty job of "right-sizing" this mess, if only to remove authority from a body that has created a complete crisis of confidence and never ceases to outdo themselves in establishing new standards of financial and educational mismanagement. Why give these people the authority to completely disrupt the lives of 5-6 schools worth of children and teachers and community all for the sake of their vanity project?
Two things are urgently necessary:
1. The guidance and inputs given to the external consultant must be completely public and with absolutely no preconditions. How can a brand-new school be set in stone when the district obviously can’t afford it and it will have a further devastating impact on the finances of the district? All options for closure and cost savings must be on the table and there can be no sacred cows other than the highest standards of academic achievement under current constraints.
2. A complete and thorough external audit. The removal of the existing auditing firm with potential for litigation for malpractice. Given the likelihood taxes will need to go up +20% in an atmosphere of drastically reduced services, the taxpayers and parents have a right to know where the money went. Given the heavy financial burden and impact to children’s lives and education, not having complete accountability would be a miscarriage of justice and an abnegation of responsibility. There must be accountability. The board and administration can be expected to balk at this…for all too obvious reasons. All the more reason to push for it.
"How did you go bankrupt?"
"Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly."
BTW - where did you get the "closure of 4-5 schools" from?
From a discussion with a board member.
4-5 schools would be so extreme...even trying to close 1-2 more than BR, which seems like all but a certainty at this point, is going to be extremely hard for them to do. Even counting BR, I do not know how you close that many schools here AND build a new Foster school.
1. Is that transparency to the public something a consultancy typically provides? I think Foster School is "set in stone" unless actual clear evidence is presented laying out the process and financial implications of pulling the plug, and it's clear that it would have a major impact in the projected financial picture. I don't think Foster School construction cost overruns are factored into the current year budget, or there would be more pushback (scary). The real question is WHY, other than it not being financially beneficial during a time of financial crisis, would there be zero talk whatsoever about what would happen if we halted the project.
2. I think Tom FOIA'ed Baker Tilly audits from recent years, so we should have some idea of what's been looked at pretty soon. Either they flagged things that were missed/ignored (Board's fault) or they missed/ignored red flags (BT's fault for missing, responsibility of Board for hiring them).
3. Would you speak at one of the next board meetings to push for the above? If not, what's the best channel to actually exert this kind of pressure? The IL OIG?
The Baker-Tilly audits are actually public! You can find them here:
https://www.district65.net/about/budget-finance (they're under the Annual Financial Report - AFR section)
As I see it, the challenge with the Foster school is this:
1) They have $40m in lease certificate money to use for construction.
2) They don't appear to have any other money they can contribute to construction now or in future years.
Cordogan Clark's 2024 estimates are here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y4Bb7jJgZlvPGquFV9aJmYko_iCsCYMK/view?usp=drive_link
Total Construction Cost: $42,097,914
Total Non Construction Cost: $6,355,827
So to finish the project, you need about $8 million buckazoids. Where they getting that from? Maybe Bessie Rhodes building will throw in a couple million. The rest???
They have $4m for contingencies in the budget (see above doc) and if everything goes perfect, maybe they can use that. But it's still not enough and that's the only room for error they really have. If something like HVAC goes way over budget, they're screwed.
I think in order for this to continue, the administration needs to prove to the board that the project can be fully funded. I just don't see how that's possible given the existing circumstances.
Also, it is inarguable that the project is still being funded at the expense of other things we can no longer afford. There's a $2.5M gap between the bus savings the project was approved on and the actual projected savings (which btw, we can still achieve by continuing with new student assignment mapping even if the new school is not built in the near future). This means not only the $8m you referenced, but an ongoing $2.5M of the existing budget that's needing to be pulled in from elsewhere to make our annual $3.3M payment.
We could literally buy Grecian Kitchen with one year of that $2.5M and lock in the D65 Admin free lunches for good.
OMG I laughed out loud at the idea of buying Grecian Kitchen
Ahh, thanks for sharing the link to the audited financials. Seems like it was insufficient then?
re: Bessie sale closing the gap, how does that work? BR is still planned to be open through probably early June 2026. If the Foster School is slated for completion, and we're relying on proceeds from BR sale, we'd need a buyer lined up to close almost immediately after the conclusion of SY25-26 and the funds to clear. Not sure that's something you can bank on.
Yeah it's cutting it really close, part of the reason why I'm a skeptic now
I also question the projected revenue from selling Bessie Rhodes. We have heard from D65 that the building appraises for: $2 million, $3 million, $4 million, $5 million. We have never been given a source for any of these appraisals. Furthermore, Bessie Rhodes abuts Skokie's Timber Ridge Park. You cannot develop on this parkland. Any potential buyer is working with a very confined footprint. And finally, yes: none of the money from selling Bessie Rhodes will come to D65 BEFORE the new Foster School is completed, so it cannot be used to help PAY for the new Foster School...unless contractors now accept "promises" upon completion of work.
Yeah the $5 million number the District has cited seems quite generous for a building that
1) Could be used as a school but needs a pretty large investment in improvements.
2) Could be used as residential but will require massive zoning change with the City.
3) Doesn't really have any commercial or other value.
Maybe this is where I can finally open the Tom Hayden School of Jazz Studies.
I haven't seen any of them in the most recent Roundtable article yet. Regarding the algorithm changes, are you saying that we aren't able to see their comments at all? I checked and I haven't seen anything from them on FB. I can't imagine how they could continue to spin this, but I am sure they have their angle. Which is insane at this point.
Actually, silence might be a strategy here. Avoid bringing it up, let the early phases of construction crawl along, enough that having to undo contracts, negotiate prepayment, and also budget for replacing everything that's been demoed at the site thus far is prohibitive and keeping the project going is the "best" option.
It is truly sad that the forum treated as the broader place for D65 parents and caregivers to discuss important and relevant issues has been so stifled that NOBODY is willing to discuss the five-alarm fire that's going on right now.
Well we are discussing it here and this is a much more constructive place to do it.
I also thought about how they are just going to keep ignoring emails from the community about canceling the school until it is at a point of no return and then they will say, "Oh, we looked into it (as weeks go by and construction is fully underway) and its too late, sorry." The level of corruption here knows no bounds. They just want to pad their resumes and jump ship just like Horton and the CFO Obefami.
Oh I agree with you on this being a more constructive setting to do so...I do worry about this turning into a bit of an echo chamber, where other people (especially newer to Evanston and D65) haven't come across this substack and are less aware of much of this discussion that's happening, while the unofficial D65 FB group is 80% announcements about upcoming events.
During the upcoming election cycle, I have a feeling that page will heat up, and unfortunately it has reach (4.4k members).
This place becoming an echo chamber is extremely concerning to me and something I've been thinking a lot about lately. I'm going to do some thinking to find a way to reign it in. My early efforts to shitpost in the comments in order to keep the conversation going, at this point, may be too much
I think one way would be to keep bringing visibility to this Substack in the FB page to draw in broader audience and viewpoints. So many of us have found this place very informative on the posts alone, not even accounting for the exchanges of thoughts, ideas, rants in the comments. The FB page is often just a place where people post links to relevant info and events, so might as well use it as a launching pad.
That's where about 75% of my traffic comes from