The new Evanston/Skokie School District 65 board has only been active for a month, but last year’s unanswered issues already are dominating the board’s discussion.
On Monday night, the board re-evaluated its annual goals, which were set in December. Rather than take action on the old issues — the future of the district’s bilingual education program, inter-district communication, and student achievement — the board called on administrators to propose new solutions.
Although District 65 temporarily solved the problem of housing its bilingual program, a permanent house for the Two-Way Immersion language program is still in the works.
But some board members said the future of Two-Way Immersion cannot be decided before examining a larger issue — the racial guideline in existence that requires schools to have no more than 60 percent of a single ethnic group.
The 60-percent guideline originally integrated the district using busing, but it has seen much scrutiny for its displacement of students from their closest neighborhood schools.
“The administration should give us a model and show us how the districts will look (without the guideline),” board member Marianne Kountoures said.
Board member Bob Eder said a new model was necessary to understand the ramifications of removing the 60-percent guideline before deciding where to permanently put the TWI program.
Depending on the makeup of the district without the 60-percent guideline, TWI could be placed in a different location.
In response to criticism about poor communication, the board also asked the administration to retool the district’s media announcements to effectively target three groups — parents, staff and the public.
“Often times there is a program at one school and no one else knows about it,” said Mary Rita Luecke, District 65 board president. “It creates a level of frustration.”
The district sends a weekly electronic newsletter to staff, board members and PTA presidents called “Around 65”; a quarterly newsletter to all Evanston residents called “Update 65”; and a proposed weekly newsletter targeting staff.
But board members expressed a desire to cut down on monetary costs while streamlining the targeted audiences.
The district will present a final proposal at a board meeting in May.
In its review of the annual goals, the board asked for updated research on student achievement and special education.
“As we close out the year we think it’s important that the board determine if goals were met,” said Hardy Ray Murphy, district superintendent.
Officials in the district’s research department said they plan to analyze the data by late summer for the board to examine.
