By Annie Martin

The Daily Northwestern

Despite opposition from a few vocal parents, the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 School Board decided at its meeting Monday to keep Superintendent Hardy Murphy in his position until 2012.

Murphy’s tenure, which began in 1999, was scheduled to end in June 2009, but the board voted 4-2 to extend it another three years.

Some parents in the district accuse Murphy of “teaching to the test” and not challenging intelligent students. When parents learned of the board meeting’s agenda, some circulated a petition against extending the superintendent’s contract. Rachael Gross, an Evanston resident with two children in the district, said parents gathered more than 200 signatures in just a “couple of days.”

“They seem unconcerned with challenging children in any form,” Gross said. “It’s been lacking for quite a long time.”

Gross said she recently pulled her seventh-grade son out of the district and has begun homeschooling him. Gross’ son has a learning disability, and she said she found the special education system in the district to be “demeaning.”

“They have a way of making you feel like you’re asking for something extraordinary,” she said.

Board President Mary Erickson, who voted to extend Murphy’s contract, said she thinks having the same superintendent over the next several years will benefit the district.

“Frankly, I like to have the stability of the leadership in the school district, and I think he is a leader for the long term,” Erickson said. “It’s the best thing we can do for the teachers, students and parents.”

Board member Jerome Summers also favored the extension. Summers said he has been impressed with the district’s improvement in test scores, especially for minority and at-risk students.

“Over the course of four to five years, the scores of a broad spectrum of children have gone up dramatically,” Summers said. “And students who have historically excelled have still done well.”

On Wednesday, Sharon Sheehan, a board member opposed to extending Murphy’s contract, resigned. She began her tenure in April 2005. Erickson said Sheehan was a dedicated board member.

“I have always valued her analytical ability, and it is unfortunate that Ms. Sheehan has decided to resign at this time,” Erickson said.

Some parents and community members felt it was too risky to extend Murphy’s contract for another three years when he still had almost two years left, Erickson said.

“Some people want everything done in a day, and to tell you the truth, education really doesn’t work that way,” she said.

But Erickson said she thinks most parents have been reasonably happy with Murphy.

“We have parents coming before us with specific concerns, but our schools are doing well,” Erickson said. “You pay attention to the people who complain, but you have to remember that the huge majority are satisfied.”

Parents’ concerns are important, Summers said, but he said he thinks Murphy has done well overall.

“Our schools are safe and clean and all of our teachers are 100 percent qualified,” Summers said. “What is a superintendent supposed to do?”

Reach Annie Martin at [email protected].