Absolutely, someone new who comes in should have the ability to pave their own way, the problem is she came in under his lead and from what I hear has continued his same philosophy, approach and tactics with regards to running D65 like it is CPS... not understanding the history, the approach to education, and seemingly not working to bridge what is a huge gap between educational theory and practice. Only time will tell... but my bet is time will show same story different narrator.
If Turner was the Asst. Super. under Horton shouldn't she have been aware of the false numbers regarding transportation and the 5th Ward school? Or was that not at all her responsibility?
"I was present at the May 2023 meeting where the budget estimate for the project was shared with District administration. I was serving as the Assistant Superintendent of Schools and neither the construction nor the financing were under my purview. Because finances for the project were not my focus in my prior role, it was not clear to me at that time that the budget was significantly above the original estimate."
I thought this is a massive bombshell (and still do) because it implicates Dr. Horton knowing about the cost-overruns at least as far back as May 2023. And he bounced almost immediately afterwards.
Has anyone that's frustrated and has some reservations around Dr. Turner's appointment bothered dropping by one of the "Listen and Learn" community engagements to ask her further about that?
For me, the concern is as much about the annual bus/transportation savings being over-estimated by ~$2.5m as it is about the price tag of the project. Though the new cost is about 20% above the $40m they got the lease certificates for, we still would be in a position where the new school was largely paid for through these savings if the $3.25m number was actually realistic, therefore it was less of a "let's build a new school at the likely expense of multiple other schools" the way it is likely going to appear to many families beyond Rhodes ones who are already dealing with that.
Good grief. Profile in courage, Turner: "I knew nothing. I only pay attention to things under my purview!!!"
She has been with the District since August 2021. She was in a senior level of authority as of August 2022. The $40 million estimate for the school was all over the news and the lease certificates were issued in March 2022.
The only way it could "not be clear to me at the time that the budget was significantly above the original estimate" would be either:
1) She was so out of touch with the big initiatives happening at the district that she was blithely ignorant of the figures.
or
2) She has trouble seeing that $65 million is "significantly above" $40 million.
Both explanations are troubling.
I work in an organization larger than District 65 as a middle manager and I know the broad scopes relating to our organizations' major initiatives. It may not be in my immediate "purview," but if we were expanding and building a major new facility I would know ballpark costs, etc...Some info like that is closely held. And those cases, just the office gossip would give me a sense of costs and what is going on.
An analogy would be the Ryan Field rebuild. I have a neighbor who works at Northwestern, but way far removed from athletics and facilities, but he has strong opinions on the Ryan Field project and can cite the costs, etc... It is not under this guy's purview, but it is happening at his place of employment so he is interested in how it may impact the organization as a whole.
In the case of the D65 new school all of these costs were widely reported in the news. The fact that Turner would be so incurious about what is going on is troubling. In our organization, the people who rise up the ranks internally are folks with natural curiosity who learn about stuff that isn't in their "purview."
We're stuck with her, so whatever. It is hard to believe that she is the best qualified candidate we could get. But that blame goes squarely on the board.
One correction: Turner predates Dr. Horton in D65
Wait, are you sure? The Roundtable says she came in 2021. Interesting, it looks like she purged her LinkedIN page. Curious.
https://evanstonroundtable.com/2024/03/18/district-65-names-interim-leader-as-next-superintendent/
So what can you tell us about HALOS?
https://www.helpingallleaders.org/
And the Accelerate Institute?
https://accelerateinstitute.org/dr-angel-turner-elevates-her-influence-on-chicagos-north-shore/
I could be wrong! Double checking. I feel like I saw her on org chart pre Horton, but let me confirm..
I stand corrected. Thank you for this. She joined in mid-2021.
This does give me some pause .. but I believe we should judge her on what she does now, not what someone else who hired her did.
Absolutely, someone new who comes in should have the ability to pave their own way, the problem is she came in under his lead and from what I hear has continued his same philosophy, approach and tactics with regards to running D65 like it is CPS... not understanding the history, the approach to education, and seemingly not working to bridge what is a huge gap between educational theory and practice. Only time will tell... but my bet is time will show same story different narrator.
Turner was a Horton hire. She was not in D65 prior to 2020.
I stand corrected. Thank you for this. She joined in mid-2021. Dang! I can't believe I got this wrong.
No worries, that is why you have people like us to support you and help you get it right. We got you. :)
If Turner was the Asst. Super. under Horton shouldn't she have been aware of the false numbers regarding transportation and the 5th Ward school? Or was that not at all her responsibility?
If you read her (carefully written) memo to the board from October she details what she knew and when:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XiKFHz37RO0PsNVq0tm3MhpgKkrSFUaj/view?usp=drive_link
"I was present at the May 2023 meeting where the budget estimate for the project was shared with District administration. I was serving as the Assistant Superintendent of Schools and neither the construction nor the financing were under my purview. Because finances for the project were not my focus in my prior role, it was not clear to me at that time that the budget was significantly above the original estimate."
I thought this is a massive bombshell (and still do) because it implicates Dr. Horton knowing about the cost-overruns at least as far back as May 2023. And he bounced almost immediately afterwards.
Has anyone that's frustrated and has some reservations around Dr. Turner's appointment bothered dropping by one of the "Listen and Learn" community engagements to ask her further about that?
For me, the concern is as much about the annual bus/transportation savings being over-estimated by ~$2.5m as it is about the price tag of the project. Though the new cost is about 20% above the $40m they got the lease certificates for, we still would be in a position where the new school was largely paid for through these savings if the $3.25m number was actually realistic, therefore it was less of a "let's build a new school at the likely expense of multiple other schools" the way it is likely going to appear to many families beyond Rhodes ones who are already dealing with that.
I have asked her to do an interview with me! Hopefully she will take it and I can ask all the questions
Good grief. Profile in courage, Turner: "I knew nothing. I only pay attention to things under my purview!!!"
She has been with the District since August 2021. She was in a senior level of authority as of August 2022. The $40 million estimate for the school was all over the news and the lease certificates were issued in March 2022.
The only way it could "not be clear to me at the time that the budget was significantly above the original estimate" would be either:
1) She was so out of touch with the big initiatives happening at the district that she was blithely ignorant of the figures.
or
2) She has trouble seeing that $65 million is "significantly above" $40 million.
Both explanations are troubling.
I work in an organization larger than District 65 as a middle manager and I know the broad scopes relating to our organizations' major initiatives. It may not be in my immediate "purview," but if we were expanding and building a major new facility I would know ballpark costs, etc...Some info like that is closely held. And those cases, just the office gossip would give me a sense of costs and what is going on.
An analogy would be the Ryan Field rebuild. I have a neighbor who works at Northwestern, but way far removed from athletics and facilities, but he has strong opinions on the Ryan Field project and can cite the costs, etc... It is not under this guy's purview, but it is happening at his place of employment so he is interested in how it may impact the organization as a whole.
In the case of the D65 new school all of these costs were widely reported in the news. The fact that Turner would be so incurious about what is going on is troubling. In our organization, the people who rise up the ranks internally are folks with natural curiosity who learn about stuff that isn't in their "purview."
We're stuck with her, so whatever. It is hard to believe that she is the best qualified candidate we could get. But that blame goes squarely on the board.