In a controversial decision that has caused much criticism and protest amongst Evanston and Skokie families, the District 65 School Board has concluded to close Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies for the 8th grade. This solution came after a long string of conflicting decisions that have been received negatively by Bessie Rhodes families and children,
Located in Skokie, Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies is quite unlike other schools in District 65 and Illinois: it is the first to offer a Two Way Immersion (TWI) dual language program, which guides students to develop proficiency in both Spanish and English in order for students to become “bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural,” according to the District 65 website. All students receive “wall-to-wall” TWI, with all staff services, programming and classes being inclusive and bilingual. Bessie Rhodes is District 65’s most diverse school, with 90% of its students identifying as people of color and two-thirds coming from low-income households.
In place of Bessie Rhodes, Foster School is set to open in the Fifth Ward in July 2026. The Board first voted on Foster School’s construction in 2022, with plans to later integrate the Bessie Rhodes community due to decreasing enrollment rates and the building’s need for expensive maintenance repairs. It will be named after the original Foster School, which opened in 1905 near the Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center. After a fire destroyed the school in 1958, it was rebuilt and eventually shut down as a neighborhood school in 1967 as part of the district’s desegregation plan.
Earlier this June at the Joseph E. Hill Childhood Center, the District 65 school board voted 5-2 to shut down the Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies for the 2025-26 school year. This was due to “financial constraints, site limitations, and considerations for the best possible educational experience for students,” according to the Bessie Rhodes website. However, some community members believe the Board failed to give proper explanation to D65 families.
“I think there are some legitimate reasons to consider Bessie Rhodes closure, the primary factor being cost. The building needs [repairs], it’s clearly difficult to hire bilingual staff and given the District’s financial situation, having a full TWI school is a luxury,” said Tom Hayden, Evanston resident and writer of the blog FOIA Gras. “None of these reasons were cited during closure; in fact, we still don’t have a good idea of why the Board elected to close the school.” Several Evanston parents rely on FOIA Gras for updates and news from District 65 and the City of Evanston.
Cost is indeed one of the primary factors in the decision to close the school. District 65 is at risk of being taken over by the state due to its financial difficulties, and is expected to have only 72 days worth of funds in the bank following the end of the 2024-25 school year. This deficit falls well below the district’s policy requirement to keep at least 90 days worth of emergency funds. To address this, Superintendent Angel Turner introduced a deficit reduction plan, which includes staff cuts, school closures, building maintenance and finding a way to provide both special education services and transportation at a cheaper cost.
Along with its budgeting crisis, and partly due to it, Bessie Rhodes has faced staffing issues approaching its pending closure. The magnet school is severely understaffed to the point where administrators are forced to step in to teach classes.
On October 15, Superintendent Turner sent out an email to Bessie Rhodes parents, announcing the closure of the 7th and 8th grades as a result of the budgeting crisis and staffing issues. Students from the two grades were to be relocated to other District 65 schools by the following month.
“We recognize the desire to stay at Bessie Rhodes to finish middle school. However, approximately 20 children per grade level and a limited team of educators do not provide the consistent, well-rounded learning environment that our students need and deserve as they prepare to enter high school,” the email read. It further detailed information regarding support for students with an IEP, bilingual education, or special education.
The email was quickly met with backlash and criticism from the Evanston community, due to the abrupt nature of the decision and the lack of transparency in the process. Multiple parents criticized the Board, protesting that the announcement should have at least been made in person.
“It’s very inappropriate; [it’s] not an actual outreach, just a vague and sloppy attempt to inform [us],” admitted Brandon Utter, parent of two Bessie Rhodes students. “Many of the Bessie families don’t speak English. So emailing [in English] is not a primary means of communication for them. That alone makes it a sloppy attempt in order to outreach the Bessie Rhodes community, [along with] not collecting feedback from the community before forcing this decision upon them.”
The news itself was received with more criticism. Parents argued that they were completely excluded from the decision-making process, and blamed the Board for not being upfront with Bessie Rhodes families.
“ They need to say give us more or better information. We have all these questions that are unanswered. We need these questions answered before we make a decision on this,” said Utter.
The email included a Zoom link to offer more explanation and support for 7th and 8th grade families; however, after the link was shared online, the Board opted to host private meetings because they believed it would no longer be a “safe or productive space for group dialogue.” The announcement itself was made a few hours before the set meeting time.
On October 18, three days following the statement of the closure of the 7th and 8th grades, the mayors of Skokie and Evanston, George Van Dusen and Daniel Biss, respectively, penned a joint letter to the District 65 Board. In the letter, Mayor Van Dusen and Mayor Biss urged the Board to reconsider the October 15 decision, and to include Bessie Rhodes families in the decision making process.
“The best way to avoid potential panic is to be fully open with all stakeholders before taking dramatic action. For this reason, we are respectfully requesting that you at least temporarily reverse your decision and facilitate that discussion,” read the letter.
Shortly following the letter from both mayors, Superintendent Turner sent out another email to Bessie Rhodes families on October 24. The email included apologies on the behalf of her and her team, along with dates for public discussion; additionally, she emphasized that a final decision had not been made, and would be announced by the end of the week after further discussion.
“I want to first acknowledge our missteps in the rollout and announcement of this news,” Turner wrote. “Moving schools midyear is no small decision and has an undeniable impact on students and our staff. As superintendent, I hold myself and my team accountable. I am deeply sorry for the pain and disruption that has been caused.”
Despite the apology and steps for further consideration, parents and students planned a peaceful protest for the first meeting of discussion, which was on October 28; they showed up to the meeting with handmade signs and posters protesting the removal of the 7th and 8th grades.
“[My son is] a part of the protests, as are we. He knows something is happening. He knows the protests are happening. He’s there present with them,” said Utter.
At the October 28 meeting, Superintendent Turner presented four options for moving forward, which included closing, keeping open, relocating, or dividing the two grades.
After a week of discussions and meetings facilitated between administrators and families, the District 65 Board announced their decision on November 8; the 7th and 8th grades would remain open at Bessie Rhodes until the end of the school year. However, only half of the students in those grades would stay at Bessie Rhodes; according to Evanston RoundTable, 20 students out of both grades are staying, while 21 are leaving to either King Arts or a neighborhood school.
Izzah Shah, a senior at ETHS and sibling of an 8th grader at Bessie Rhodes, had been observing the impact of these recent changes on her brother. He decided to switch to King Arts amidst the administrative changes and controversy, and she says the transition hasn’t been easy for him or his peers.
“[Being separated] from the friends he’d known for a long time at Bessie Rhodes was difficult,” she explained. “He told me that at King Arts, he had been placed in classes with only other students that were moved from Bessie Rhodes, which is concerning, because it raises questions about how he’ll connect with other students.”
Shah expressed concern about the long-term emotional and social effects on her brother and his classmates.
“There’s also the entire social [or] emotional aspect to consider. How damaging is it for a student to have to drop their entire social life at one school and now switch to a new one?” she added. “I can only imagine how much harder it’s been for families with multiple children in Bessie Rhodes or other middle schools.”
Her concerns became even more apparent when all 10 of the remaining 8th graders at Bessie Rhodes opted to transfer schools two days later. As there were no students left, Bessie Rhodes closed its 8th grade on November 18.
Although conflict about the placement of Bessie Rhodes students has ended, concerns persist about the effectiveness and reliability of Superintendent Turner and District 65’s school board as a whole. Parents and community members remain unhappy with the lack of clarity and community involvement. Utter, for example, is one of seventeen candidates for D65’s school board. Discontented with the current administration, he aims to improve accountability and transparency within the Board.
“I feel really bad for all of the students and families involved [with the Bessie Rhodes situation], so bad that I’m running for board, because I don’t want this to happen to other families in the district,” explained Utter. “And I think that the number of people running for school board indicates that a lot of other people are thinking the same way about how the board is managing some of the decisions they’ve made.”
The Bessie Rhodes 8th grade closure has highlighted broader concerns from the community about how decisions are communicated and implemented within District 65. With the ongoing implementation of a deficit reduction plan and the upcoming opening of Foster School, the district continues to face challenges and criticism from community members.
