Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of exit interviews for District 65 board members.

After eight years, Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Board of Education member Joey Hailpern will conclude his time on the board at the end of his term. 

He said he thinks he has not adequately achieved his goals for the district’s culture and relationship with the community.  

“Someone else needs to come in and see if they can do it better,” Hailpern said. “Our community needs quality leadership sitting at the table willing to engage in tough conversations.”

Hailpern has spent his entire career in education and is currently the chief operating officer for InnovateK12, a school stakeholder engagement optimization firm. 

Hailpern spoke with The Daily about landmark board decisions and his vision for the future of the district. 

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

The Daily: What went into your decision not to run for another term?

Hailpern: I’ll be concluding eight years, so the first is personal (and) professional time.

The second is I don’t think that I was as successful as I would want to be in helping climate and culture (and) in building trust in the community. 

The Daily: What are you most proud of accomplishing in your time on the board?

Hailpern: I respect our labor unions, the leadership, but also the rank and file members and the work that they do, and I think we did a good job at bringing respectful contracts to the table.

There’s definitely policies that have gotten better. Paring down exclusionary discipline, that’s step one — not kicking kids out of school for things that they shouldn’t be kicked out of. 

And getting the 5th Ward school built. It’s become a divisive issue in our community, but the reality is walkable schools will allow students to have a neighborhood school.

The Daily: Is there anything you wish you had done more of in your time on the board?

Hailpern: I don’t have regrets.

I don’t feel like I pushed spending (issues) as much as I should or could have. 

The funding around the 5th Ward school — it should have never been a surprise that the expense predictions changed. As a board, we should have asked to see more sooner, and I hold myself responsible for that.

The Daily: You were part of the unanimous vote in favor of the creation of the Foster School. When construction costs were $25 million more than what was expected, you helped make the decision to build a K-5 school instead of a K-8 one. Even though you won’t be on the board, what is your vision for the school about a year and a half out from its opening? 

Hailpern: The 5th Ward school represents an intentional effort by our board and the district to invest in a way to bring kids home, give them a place that’s theirs. They’re not going to school, they’re going across the street. It’s their backyard.

It’s something that to me was a no-brainer — it’s time to repair that wrong and to restore that benefit to the community, which is really a good healthy school. 

The Daily: You were one of two board members who voted against beginning the process to potentially close Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies. When it came time to vote to close the school, you voted in favor. What went into switching that vote?

Hailpern: I do think Bessie Rhodes as a school needs to close. I disagree with the timing of it. I never thought that as a board we should be charged with voting on closing a school while students and teachers are still living and learning in it. 

At the time, what I was proposing was: “Let’s redraw the boundaries, open a new school, move the students to the new school. Then once it’s a vacated building, we can vote to close it, (and) it would happen while nobody sees it as their school community.”

Voting to close it, to me, didn’t have to happen when it happened. It just created turmoil that was unnecessary. We work as a board, and once we moved on to the next phase, I didn’t disagree with closing the school.

The Daily: When you ran for school board in 2021, you said one of your main goals was to ensure the district’s fiscal sustainability through reductions that didn’t impact students’ experiences. You also mentioned looking at district enrollment and ensuring schooling models match the district’s needs, all of which is reflected in the district’s Structural Deficit Reduction Plan. Is there anything you would change about the SDRP or want to see evolve as Phase 3 of the plan begins?

Hailpern: I don’t know what the next plans look like, but looking at when the 5th Ward school opens, students are going to come from other buildings and that will be their new home school. That will create space in a number of buildings where we can have discussions about expanding early childhood options, expanding our continuum of services for students with special needs.

We’re a couple years late, which is a part of the fiscal problem. The pandemic in there definitely clouded a lot of decision making and judgment.

The Daily: What advice do you have for the candidates running to be District 65’s next board members?

Hailpern: I am a career educator. My entire life has been spent in public schools, and nothing prepares you for the board work in this community. Evanston is isolated in a number of ways, and we have to expect more. 

Future board members, they have to come in and not settle for mediocrity from anybody. The adults in this community struggle to have conversations that are challenging, but we’ve also struggled with trust. The common good here is education. We need to create safe havens for everybody to come and get their education.

Email: anaviprakash2027@u.northwestern.edu 

X: @anavi_52

Related Stories:

— Q&A: D65 candidate Nichole Pinkard talks collaboration, Foster School 

— Q&A: D65 candidate Lionel Gentle talks transparency, support for teachers 

— Q&A: D202 board member Gretchen Livingston reflects on tenure, future of ETHS