Last updated Jan. 9 at 11:00 p.m.

The Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Board of Education unanimously voted to begin the process to close Kingsley Elementary School after the 2025-26 school year during a special meeting Friday.

Before officially voting to close a school, Illinois School Code requires boards of education to hold three public hearings. Kingsley’s hearings will be on Jan. 21 at 6 p.m. and Jan. 22 at 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. 

The board will also consider beginning the process to close Lincolnwood Elementary School at a later date if certain requirements are not met by October 2026.

These include maintaining a balanced budget, having at least 90 days of cash on hand and dedicating at least $2.7 million to building maintenance expenditures. The district currently has $189 million in deferred maintenance costs. 

Another requirement is ensuring District 65’s overall K-5 building utilization rate is above 75%, excluding specialized schools and programs.

If the board were to close both Kingsley and Lincolnwood, the district’s K-5 utilization rate next school year would be around 76%, according to Stacy Beardsley, assistant superintendent of performance management and accountability. The district’s current K-5 building utilization rate is about 61%.

Prior to voting, Board members Maria Opdycke and Andrew Wymer expressed concern about the feasibility of the district reaching a 75% utilization rate by October. However, the board agreed that the resolution is a step toward building a larger vision for the future of the district.  

“My view of it is that it allows us to phase in and get this first phase of the work done in good fashion,” Board President Patricia S. Anderson said. “That was my major concern, was with how we’re going to complete some of these closures in addition to opening the new Foster School, so in terms of my decision, this meets my goal.”

The board’s decision is part of Phase 3 of the district’s Structural Deficit Reduction Plan, which aims to cut its budget by between $10.9 to $14.85 million before fiscal year 2030. 

During Phases 1 and 2 of the SDRP, the district has already reduced spending by about $20 million. The plan is designed to help the district reach financial sustainability for future years. 

Kingsley’s closure before the 2026-27 school year would coincide with the opening of Foster School, the district’s new K-5 school in the 5th Ward and an addition to Haven Middle School’s feeder pattern.

Friday’s vote was the six-member board’s third attempt to reach a decision on which schools, if any, to close alongside Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies after the current school year.

Anderson and Vice President Nichole Pinkard announced the special meeting in a Wednesday email to families, appearing to reverse their plan to close no additional schools before next school year after the board failed to reach a consensus last month.

The board’s resolution is a compromise based on previous discussions about staggering multiple school closures, a possibility that was rejected after some board members voiced opposition to any two-school closure option. 

“I believe this provides us a path where we have some flexibility, adaptation and creativity, but also provides us some focused commitment that we’re going to honor,” Wymer said. 

Incomplete board split twice on closing one or two schools 

After the district introduced 33 potential scenarios — closing zero to four schools — at the board’s Sept. 29 meeting, board members narrowed their options to four closure scenarios: Kingsley and Willard Elementary Schools, Kingsley and Lincolnwood, only Kingsley and only Lincolnwood. The termination of Willard’s Two-Way Immersion program was also a condition of each scenario.

Board members and community members alike took stances in favor of either closing only one school or closing two. Notably, prior to the board’s second vote, Kingsley parents asked the board to close only their school.

Two weeks before the board’s first vote on scenarios was scheduled, former board member Omar Salem resigned effective Nov. 4, citing an opportunity that took his family out of Evanston. His vacated seat has yet to be filled, leaving a six-person body in place.

When the incomplete board voted on its final four scenarios, it unanimously rejected closing Kingsley and Willard on Nov. 17. At the same meeting, the board split on closing Kingsley and Lincolnwood and just Kingsley.

Those who voted in favor of the two-school scenario opposed the one-school scenario, while those who supported beginning the process to close just Kingsley rejected the plan to close two schools.

The district forgot to place the Lincolnwood-only scenario on the board’s Nov. 17 agenda, prompting a special meeting later that week to consider it. Per Illinois law, all agenda items must be made publicly available at least 48 hours prior to a meeting. At the meeting, board members voted unanimously against the scenario and voted to reintroduce its final four scenarios for another vote on Dec. 1.

At the December meeting, the board unanimously rejected the Kingsley and Willard scenario and split on the scenarios to close just Kingsley and both Kingsley and Lincolnwood. The board then voted 4-2 against closing only Lincolnwood, with Pinkard and Opdycke as the scenario’s only supporters.

Additional cost cutting, new board member to come

Board members emphasized the importance of working with the community to find cost-cutting alternatives. Anderson said she wants Pinkard and Opdycke to lead efforts on creating strategies to reduce the district’s structural deficit. 

District staff previously presented other cost-cutting options, including up to 78 layoffs, at the board’s Dec. 15 meeting. Some of these cuts may be implemented in addition to Kingsley’s potential closure in the district’s attempt to reach fiscal sustainability by October of this year.

The administration also announced that Willard TWI will end following the 2025-26 school year, apart from any school closures. The announcement came despite strong opposition from community members. At Friday’s meeting, several parents criticized the district’s decision to cut Willard TWI without a board vote.

The board is also expected to welcome a seventh board member soon. Given 60 days to select Salem’s replacement, the six current board members could not agree, Anderson announced in December. The choice is now in the hands of the district’s regional superintendent, who has until Feb. 2 to pick a new member, per Illinois School Code.

The board’s next meeting — its first regular meeting of the new year — is on Jan. 12.

“We also have to now put our focus on opening Foster, transitioning, closing Bessie Rhodes, welcoming Bessie Rhodes families (and) Willard families into Foster and the work that has to happen for Kingsley and Lincolnwood,” Pinkard said. “So let’s get it done.”

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Related Stories: 

— D65 board to reconsider closing Kingsley Elementary School  

— D65 board fails to pass additional school closures before 2026-27 school year 

— ‘One shot to get this right’: D65 board mulls over school closure scenarios