The Evanston/Skokie School District 65 held two community engagement meetings with families from Willard Elementary School’s Two-Way Immersion program on Jan. 15 and Jan. 22 to answer questions and address concerns as parents make plans for the future. 

The meetings came a month after the district announced the bilingual program would end following the 2025-26 school year. In September, the district introduced school closure scenarios as part of Phase 3 of its Structural Deficit Reduction Plan, which aims to cut $10.9 to $14.85 million from its budget before fiscal year 2030. Willard TWI’s termination was a component in each of the final four scenarios the board considered in the fall.

After the board repeatedly failed to approve any closure scenario, district staff announced Willard TWI’s strand would end after this school year at the board’s Dec. 15 meeting. The decision was put into effect without a board vote.

The TWI strands for Willard and the Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies, which will close after this school year, will be consolidated into two new strands at the Foster School, sparking condemnation from some families. 

The Jan. 15th meeting was held in person, with over 60 people in attendance. Thursday’s meeting was held over Zoom and drew over 30 attendees.

The district hired Mosaic, a third-party consultant, to facilitate conversation during the engagement meetings. Mosaic Founder and President Pamela Cook and Executive Coach Raul Amezquita were present at the first meeting.

Also in attendance were Superintendent Angel Turner, Willard Principal Khloe Battle and Charmekia McCoy, district chief of academics and director of schools management, among other district staff.

At the Jan. 15th meeting, Stacy Beardsley, assistant superintendent of performance management and accountability, apologized for the “confusion” caused by the district’s decision-making process and acknowledged there were “certainly things that could have been done differently.”

“This has been a challenging, confusing and long process, and it has created harm,” Beardsley said. “That has not certainly ever been the intent, and our goal is to figure out how to move forward in better partnership and better work.”

Beardsley also clarified that the district is still working with its legal counsel to determine whether Willard TWI has magnet program status. According to the District’s FAQ page on Willard TWI, there were “inconsistencies” in the language used to describe the Willard TWI program on various district websites. 

The inconsistent language prompted some parents to question the legitimacy of the program’s closure, as all decisions regarding magnet programs fall under the school board’s purview. A magnet program closure would require a board vote, which the decision to close Willard TWI did not include.

The District consulted legal counsel before the Dec. 15 meeting and “strongly believes” it is in the “right place” regarding district policy, Beardsley said. She added that if legal counsel were to come back and announce that the magnet policy applies to the program, the district will update the board and “honor that policy.”

The district will announce the outcome of legal counsel’s inquiry at the next board meeting.

Families grapple with lingering questions

At the in-person meeting, parents and district officials were initially supposed to split into breakout sessions to discuss concerns.

However, after pushback from several frustrated parents, the district decided to answer parents’ questions directly in a large group setting. Only one group of parents, which had already left the main discussion, remained separated. 

Many parents asked about Foster, including questions about what the Willard TWI to Foster transition process will look like and what parents can expect from the district over the next few weeks. 

During the week of Feb. 2, families of students will receive letters notifying them of their school assignments and will explain the process of accepting the assignment, applying for a permissive transfer or applying to return to their home school, according to the district. The permissive transfer application window will close by March 1.

Current TWI students will be automatically assigned to the 5th Ward’s new Foster School to continue the bilingual program. Families within the Willard attendance boundary can remain at the school’s monolingual program by completing a request to attend home school form. 

Families living outside Willard’s attendance boundary must choose between attending Foster or their home school assigned by their residential address, unless they complete the home school request form and submit a permissive transfer request to attend Willard. Approval is not guaranteed and would be determined based on certain criteria, including student enrollment numbers, according to information about the program’s termination on the district’s website.

Throughout the week of Feb. 9, the district will hold Q&A meetings for the schools “most impacted” by closures, including Willard. For Willard TWI families, Turner said TWI will be addressed during the Foster School Family Meeting on Feb. 4th at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Center.

At Thursday’s virtual meeting, parents asked questions concerning the class sizes for each of the Foster strands and the fate of Willard TWI teachers.

Turner explained the district will uphold all bargaining agreements, and according to the FAQ page, the Human Relations department is launching a hiring process for positions at Foster. She added the district’s goal is to “retain as many teachers as we possibly can.” 

McCoy added the Feb. 4 meeting will be an opportunity for “building out the parent community,” as well as making introductions, connecting students and receiving feedback from families.

Throughout both meetings, parents voiced concern over the closure’s impact on the Willard TWI community, particularly its students. 

Willard TWI parent Irene Rosas said her daughter’s only Christmas wish was for the program not to close and called on the board to consider the perspectives of students.

“Before taking the decision of closing TWI, we have to see how the kids feel,” she said. “Because how they feel, I feel.”

Some parents urged the district to focus on building a strong community for families that choose to continue TWI at Foster.

“I want to recognize and acknowledge that the community here has been 20 years in the making, and now, all of a sudden, it’s feeling like it’s being pulled away,” said Willard TWI parent Marc Zarefsky (Medill ’07). “And so I truly value the importance of building culture and community at Foster. I want to see TWI thrive there.”

At the first meeting, some parents left saying they still felt frustrated and unsatisfied by the district’s responses to their questions.

Willard TWI parent Boris Houzvic ranked his satisfaction following the meeting a “zero out of ten.”

“The main reason is they wanted to do group meetings — to do kumbaya. What I really wanted was to get my question answered,” Houzvic said. “The Spanish program is what brought me to this community. Taking away this program is so disheartening.”

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Related Stories:

—  ‘This is a tragedy’: Willard TWI families stand at a crossroads after D65 decides to shutter program

— District 65 ends year in stalemate, to close Willard TWI

— D65 voted to begin the Kingsley closure process. What’s next?