Parents of children in Evanston/Skokie School District 65 were notified by email Friday afternoon that school will be canceled on Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week.
The letter from Superintendent Devon Horton blamed a shortage of staff and a lack of substitutes for the decision, and said that the 2021-2022 school year would have to be lengthened two days because of the cancellations.
According to District 65’s Director of Communications Melissa Messinger, the district typically used to have the capacity to replace 85% of staff absences with substitutes before the pandemic. Over the last few weeks, the fill rate has fallen to 60%, and with excused staff absences scheduled for this Monday and Tuesday, next week’s fill rate was just 21%.
“While all districts including ours are having difficulty securing subs, dealing with the consequences of the shortage are even more challenging in the pandemic,” Messinger told the RoundTable. “In the past, it may have been possible to combine classes or host large group activities. As we continue to prioritize the safety and health of our students and staff, these options are not currently on the table.”
Maria Barroso, president of the Evanston/Skokie District 65 Educators’ Council, sent an email to the union’s members Thursday, November 18, encouraging them to prioritize their mental health and take a sick day on Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week. The following day, District 65 sent Horton’s email announcing school would be canceled those days.
Here is the text of Horton’s letter:
Dear District 65 Community,
As we head into the weekend, I would like to provide as much notice as possible that it will be necessary to cancel school next week on Monday, November 22, and Tuesday, November 23. There will be no school for all PreK-8 grade students in District 65. Students and staff will return on Monday, November 29, following the Fall Break.
This decision was made both in the interest of safety and the mental health of our team. Based on numbers received today, we do not have adequate staffing or sub coverage to provide the necessary care or to support high-quality learning next week. We believe this is a result of educators and support staff needing to rest and focus on mental health and also to tend to their own families.
Even with the deployment of subs and staff from Central Office, we would not have nearly enough coverage nor could we operate safely under pandemic health guidelines. We recognize this news is difficult and may put working families in a bind. In an effort to support families, we proactively connected with our childcare providers and community partners to see if we could coordinate services. Unfortunately this is not feasible as they are also experiencing staffing shortages and expressed other concerns.
In addition, our Nutrition Services team is coordinating food distribution for students. Several days worth of meals will be available for pick up for all D65 students at Chute, Haven, and Nichols on Monday, November 22, from 8:30-10:30 a.m.
As a result of this decision, it will be necessary to extend the 21-22 school year by two instructional days. The last day of school for K-8 students will now be Wednesday, June 8, pending the use of any additional Emergency Days. The last day for JEH students will be June 6.
We know this is very difficult and we hope that our community can both respect and understand the unique circumstances of this situation and those we all continue to face. We know our staff, families, and students are all doing their best. Stress is causing burnout and people are juggling personal and professional responsibilities and a myriad of challenges catalyzed by the pandemic. As an organization, we must acknowledge this and support those directly responsible for the learning and care of our students and afford them this time and opportunity.
I hope that this notice will provide the opportunity for our staff and families to make the necessary arrangements. Thank you for your understanding and support.
Dr. Devon Horton
Superintendent
I have empathy with the school teachers in D65. Too much money is being allocated to high cost consultants and expensive high level administrative employees and not enough on the front line. Just one example; Equity initiatives, such as restorative justice initiatives, are poorly implemented and result in a lowering of standards, and, in some cases, a wholesale loss of order (ask anyone at Haven in the faculty or pupil population about the anarchy there).
That being said, I feel Ms Barroso’s actions underestimate the stress and trauma that her actions have caused the parent and student community. She owes us an apology in my opinion. We are all suffering from mental health stress…does she think that teachers (who were given extra days off already this year) are any different from the other occupations that the D65 parents have, including front line healthcare workers, first responders and other essential workers? Yet, she feels justified in encouraging teachers to take two extra days off at short notice with the words ‘taking a day off is a good thing’. How utterly selfish when there is a holiday coming up giving everyone a chance to re-charge their emotional batteries.
When did the D65 community devolve the power to end school classes, in such an arbitrary way, to a Union Rep who teaches 4th grade at Dewey Elementary School? Why does she get decide? Should the community take that power back and give it to the hard working parents and students of D65? This is my opinion. I remain open to debate and welcome your thoughts.
Thanks for transferring the stress from the teachers to the families. At the last minute. This feels more like a protest.
What a mess. I am a single, full-time parent. D65 teachers at our school got a multi-day vacation in October, got several days in September, were scheduled to get Wed-Fri already, and 2 weeks for Holiday Break. Why work at all, teachers? If you are too burnt out, do something else and let’s recruit talent that would want to teach in Evanston, a fantastic City. Now I have to scramble again for child care.
You can always sign up to sub. There are a lot of single parents in teaching whose own children suffer from the time and energy we put in too other people’s children. God forbid you as a parent take time out for your own kid.
Teachers are NOT babysitters, and it’s incredibly insulting for you to treat them as such. Your childcare issues are yours and yours alone. If you don’t have the means to take care of them appropriately maybe you shouldn’t have procreated. Your children are entitled to X number of days of education per year, and they will get them. The letter stated two days will be added to the end of the school year or because made up using emergency days.
No, its incredibly selfish, entitled and privileged of you not to realize that when school is cancelled at short notice, parents have very real problems caused by the fact that the published school schedule is not being followed.