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The District 65 School Board held its first in-person meeting in more than a year at the Joseph E. Hill Administration Building tonight, May 3, wearing masks and spread out about six feet from each other.
The meeting, called the Board’s reorganization meeting, consisted of swearing in four Board members, electing officers, and honoring several members of the Board, one whose term expired and another who resigned.
Swearing in Four Members
Board member Sergio Hernandez, acting as President Pro Tem, swore in the four people who won seats on the Board in the April 6 election. Three of the winners are incumbents: Soo La Kim, Joseph “Joey” Hailpern, and Elisabeth “Biz” Lindsay-Ryan. The fourth winner is Donna Wang Su. They will each serve a four-year term on the Board beginning today, May 3, 2021.
Evanston/Skokie School District 65 board members swore in newcomer Donna Wang Su and reelected members Elisabeth “Biz” Lindsay-Ryan, Joey Hailpern and Soo La Kim at Monday’s board meeting.
Outgoing board member Suni Kartha (Weinberg ’97), who did not seek reelection, said she was proud of the board’s work over the last eight years. Over the years, Kartha said the board has made policy changes and addressed curricular refinements and investment in early childhood education, with more recent accomplishments including safely educating students during the pandemic.
The former D65 board president also said there is more work to be done in the district, especially around dismantling policies that perpetuate anti-Black institutional racism.
Evanston Now
D65: Kids might switch schools every three grades
As Evanston/Skokie District 65 looks to redistrict school attendance zones, one option on the table will apparently be changing the mix of grades in buildings.
The District 65 board meeting Monday night.
As Evanston/Skokie District 65 looks to redistrict school attendance zones, one option on the table will apparently be changing the mix of grades in buildings.
Currently, the district’s 10 elementary schools are grades K-5, and the three middle schools are grades 6-8.
During a Board of Education meeting Monday night, Board member Suni Kartha asked Superintendent Devon Horton if the idea of switching schools to perhaps grades K-2 in some buildings, 3-5 in others, and then 6-8 might be on the table.
Evanston Now
Group urges reopening schools for in-person instruction.
A parents group pushing for the in-person reopening of Evanston/Skokie School District 65 is asking the district to set up a medical advisory board involving experts from the community.
The “Coalition to Reopen District 65 Schools” says such a panel can help guide the school system as it decides whether to reopen for in-person classes. The group also wants to host town hall meetings to answer questions about the COVID-19 pandemic.
District 65 has been on remote learning since school began in August. There is a Jan. 19 target for reopening the buildings, assuming the COVID outbreak allows. According to Superintendent Devon Horton, the district is guided by state and district-level metrics, and by mitigation measures from the Illinois Department of Public Health.