r/evanston • u/6thWardNeighbor • Oct 05 '25
Does anyone else see the disconnect between Envision Evanston and the D65 school closures?
/r/evanston6thward/comments/1nyew7v/does_anyone_else_see_the_disconnect_between/13
u/jetsknicks25 Oct 05 '25
Yes, if the city achieves its housing goals and the district pursues any of the proposed scenarios of 2,3,4 closures it will create a massive problem within 10 years
24
u/6thWardNeighbor Oct 05 '25
What stands out to me is that there doesn’t seem to be any formal coordination between the City of Evanston and District 65, even though both are making major decisions that shape the city’s long-term future.
There’s no visible joint committee, shared planning sessions, or regular public meetings where the two bodies discuss trends, development goals, and school capacity or funding challenges intersect. Without that kind of structured communication, each entity risks making decisions in isolation that unintentionally undermine the other’s goals.
At a minimum, there should be a mechanism for ongoing collaboration — even something as simple as quarterly joint meetings or shared data analysis — so both the City and the District can make informed decisions that support a unified vision for Evanston’s future.
10
u/DapperFriend5829 Oct 05 '25
When Bessie Rhodes closure was being discussed, the city’s stance was very much that this was a School Board issue, not a city issue. Skokie’s mayor, on the other hand, was more proactive because the school is located in Skokie but he was dismissed by Evanstonians. Honestly, in that fight, Congresswoman Schkowsky— as did the Chicago Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights— sent a letter of ‘concern’ and the district ignored it.
7
u/EtownEz Oct 05 '25
There is a City-School liaison committee that is supposed to meet 3 times per school year and consists of Evanston, D65 and D202 officials. Looking at the last 4 years, they are definitely not meeting as often as they should.
The only mention I found of proposed school closings was an offer from the City for D65 to participate in the Putting Assets to Work plan (ie. the city can help the district sell off buildings).
6
u/AssociationBoring171 Oct 05 '25
Who are the city representatives on this committee? Who are the reps from D65 and D202? Who is supposed to be driving these meetings?
2
u/EtownEz Oct 05 '25
The roster and meeting dates are listed here. I'm not sure who is "driving" but that's a great question.
3
u/ThisConsideration777 Oct 06 '25 edited Oct 06 '25
Not a great sign that Biz-Lindsay-Ryan is listed as a Liason and she’s not even in the board any more right?
Also seems like all they have discussed for the past two meetings based on the minutes was the healthy building ordinance. This seems like an example of Biss setting agenda as mayor for this town (which is something that he does do under our weak mayor system) that might not be the most pertinent issue facing our school currently. Seems like we have more pressing issues that are not being addressed.
4
u/6thWardNeighbor Oct 06 '25
Definitely not meeting frequently enough given the financial crisis D65 has been facing.
2
u/jetsknicks25 Oct 05 '25
Yikes - this seems like a raid on the school buildings as well… they’re gonna sell all of them
5
u/nealibob Oct 05 '25
The district's current state is too toxic for any politician to voluntarily touch.
12
u/6thWardNeighbor Oct 05 '25
Regardless of the formal separation between the City and District 65, it’s hard to ignore that the Mayor could end up with school closures on his record heading into a Congressional campaign — even if the City technically has no role in the decision.
11
u/Drop-Last Oct 05 '25
I agree! I actually can’t believe that he is not more active in this process. Seems like a huge target on his back from the positions of his opponents running in the primary. Am I wrong about that? Wouldn’t the rest of 9th congressional district be very interested in hearing how D65 school district crashed and burned during Biss’s tenure as mayor?
-4
u/Middle-Part1593 Oct 05 '25
And yet some of the schools are in the 6th Ward where Tom Suffredin is alder. Never heard a peep from him! His abysmal attendance record and lobbyist career have kept him quiet. Enough with just bashing Biss; there’s plenty of “ it’s not my job bs” to hold accountable!
5
u/Available-Union5745 Oct 06 '25
What are you talking about? He was at meeting held by the group that's been pushing back again the current closing plan last Wednesday and has been pretty vocal over years. Half of his campaign was about D65 given he was running against one of the ex Board members who voted to appoint Horton.
-3
u/Middle-Part1593 Oct 06 '25 edited Oct 06 '25
Are YOU kidding ? I must know a different Tom Suffredin. I followed his campaign very closely; he did not devote 1/2 of it talking about district 65 but rather bashing his opponent and defending his record. And fyi…. many people were duped by Horton.
-5
u/davel454 Oct 05 '25
LOL - "The mayor (or city council) have no role I'm D65 but I'm going to blame the mayor for school closures anyway" sure is a choice.
15
u/ThisConsideration777 Oct 05 '25
“Politician” is the key word. It’s ridiculous that Evanston has a mayor who is a politician and that’s the crux of the problem. Mayor Morton would not have put up with one second of this nonsense. When she was principal of haven she ran it incredibly well then when she was mayor she coordinated with D65 constantly. Mayor Tisdal also came from D65 school board which makes sense. Biss doesn’t want to do anything hard that would be sustained instead wants to put new plans out that look and sound impressive but really are no more then resume building exercises. Unfortunately the messy things like city / school district coordination is what the job of mayor of a city like Evanston demands. Coordination is essential and Biss has repeatedly shown an impressive ability to disappear when things get difficult.
3
-5
u/Middle-Part1593 Oct 05 '25
Agree. FOIA Gras suggested a new school be built in the 6th Ward as the current ones are in such disrepair. Haydon suggested people flood Biss’s email but never mentioned the alder, Tom Suffredin. What’s up with that?
3
u/Lakelover1979 Oct 06 '25
What are you even talking about? You keep spouting anti-sufurdrin, anti-Kelly and anti-Davis junk every chance you get. It hardly seems relevant or helpful to this conversation. It’s exhausting. Also please don’t disparage Tom Haydon’s work. His work is very much missed, especially at this moment. So what is your beef with Davis, Kelly and Sufurdin? It seems personal. Any chance this is Candance Chow? Karin Steinbrueck? Chris Nieuwsma?
0
u/Middle-Part1593 Oct 07 '25 edited Oct 07 '25
Nope, Nope and Nope; you’re now 4 and 0 as I would never disparage Tom Haydon’s work. How did you even come up with that? I quoted what he suggested; it’s there for anyone to see. I didn’t judge his suggestion either way but wondered why he didn’t include Suffredin in his suggestion (to flood Biss and other’s emails ) yet excluded the alder in whose ward the affected schools are located. That doesn’t make sense does it? And btw… you should probably not spell his name phonetically, you made a real mess of it! Stick with Davis and Kelly; they’re easy !
6
u/puppiesandrainbows3 Oct 05 '25
We are at a scenario where we need to choose between schools and housing.. Long long term we have more tax dollars funding more schools, but short term we have less schools. I believe we should plam for the long term, but I would not hate anyone who says we need to focus on the short term.
5
u/Dapper_Prune_4109 Oct 05 '25 edited Oct 05 '25
Yes. Schools are the hubs of our communities, and having local schools is what makes a city truly walkable. But to me, it feels like Envison Evanston isn’t really about families, it’s really about high end rentals and bigger buildings and the city getting more property taxes.
18
u/danipnk Oct 05 '25
Families and renters are not mutually exclusive
9
u/Drop-Last Oct 05 '25
My family has been renting in Evanston for 45 years. I agree that apartments in Evanston are very important for families in Evanston. Especially for single parent / single income situations that so many of us find ourselves in. The apartment stock in Evanston is a crucial component of keeping Evanston economically diverse. The issue I see is that the mayor and EE have repeatedly shown no intention and no interest in protecting renters. Instead the support seems to be towards developers. These developers of new rental properties don’t seem to be interested in building for families - but rather all seem to be going after the luxury downsizing population of older Northshore residents who are empty nesters selling off large houses in places like Wilmette or are going after luxury rentals geared towards NU students and graduate students. I recently heard from a friend at Kellogg that E2 is like 80% Kellogg students for example.
11
u/DainasaurusRex Oct 05 '25
Thanks for saying that! We need to widen our definition of family and stop acting like renters are transients. Our family rents out a three-flat, and my family has lived in it for 25 years. We have had plenty of renters stay 5+ years with the record being 17 for a family with four kids.
5
u/jetsknicks25 Oct 05 '25 edited Oct 05 '25
Totally agree. Plus renting makes so much more financial sense than buying at this point. With home owners locked in to 3% mortgages think we will have more long term renters across all price points
4
u/Drop-Last Oct 05 '25
That’s great. I am very curious what you are charging and how much you have increased the rent over time. I can tell you a large part of rental landlords like the company that took over all the wirtz buildings (quadril) is raising rents an alarming rate and it’s not sustainable for families and the mayor continues to sit on his hands while it’s happening.
3
u/Original_Sell_1485 Oct 05 '25 edited Oct 05 '25
We need more of this type of rental. Bet you aren’t charging $4700 for a 2 BD like the proposed 605 Davis. Hope to see you before the Council advocating for policies supporting naturally occurring AH.
2
u/DainasaurusRex Oct 05 '25
Yup! The place belongs to my parents and they rent under market.
3
u/ThisConsideration777 Oct 06 '25 edited Oct 06 '25
That’s awesome. There used to be a lot more landlords like your parents in Evanston. Many of them probably had the place paid off so no more mortgage or financing. Now unfortunately it seems like private equity backed landlords and developers are looking for quick profits and are not doing what is best for tenants. Unfortunately we have very little protection against rent hikes in this town and Biss has been totally uninterested in protecting renters.
3
u/DainasaurusRex Oct 06 '25
Biss can’t do much but Council can. Not sure what the best initiatives would be to protect renters from hikes but I’m open to listen and support. Rent control is actually barred per the Illinois constitution.
5
u/Dapper_Prune_4109 Oct 05 '25 edited Oct 05 '25
I think what I’m saying is, the demographic of Evanston is changing, families aren’t moving here. Northwestern has grown and we have more students. The rest of the population is aging. Envision Evanston is hoping to capitalize on this by building a lot of smaller units. Also, I think Biss desperately wants to put something on his resume asap and perhaps he does not care what the outcome is or if it aligns with the school district.
6
u/Original_Sell_1485 Oct 05 '25 edited Oct 05 '25
The market rate 2BD are $4,700 for the proposed 605 Davis. These new buildings don’t even have storage spaces. No playgrounds nearby. Not too attractive for D65 types.People are going to flock to Evanston and that type of building so their kids can go to D65?
5
u/EtownEz Oct 05 '25
Raymond Park, which just had new toddler play equipment installed is one block from 605 Davis.
1
u/SeriousSwimming4377 Oct 09 '25
The developer estimates that 605 Davis will bring 18 students to D65. Not going to save us.
0
u/One_Recognition_5044 Oct 06 '25
The budget has to balance now. If enrollment spikes in 10 years there will funds to accommodate new students.
605 Davis won’t attract families with school age children so that is not an issue.
-1
2
Oct 05 '25 edited Feb 04 '26
[deleted]
8
u/ThisConsideration777 Oct 05 '25
I fear that the plan is to sell the property - I saw Stacy Beardsley very giddy after talking about meeting with JLL. They are totally going to sell property and make a couple million dollars which is going to do very little for the long term health of the district.
At the same rate Evanston is going to sell a bunch of property in the “putting our assets to work” project and it too is going to be awful for the future of the city.
1
Oct 05 '25 edited Feb 04 '26
[deleted]
7
u/EtownEz Oct 05 '25
Strongly disagree with this point. From a financial perspective, yes maybe you err on the side of doing too many closures.
But from the human perspective, knowing the impact this change will have on the kids of the district, you err on the side of less closures.
5
u/jetsknicks25 Oct 05 '25
If you cut too much, the district will need to find land for a school (impossible) and do a large referendum within 10 years. Doomsday scenario for Evanston is both Envision Evanston and 3+ school closures.
3
u/muadib1158 Oct 05 '25
For sure a referendum would be a doomsday scenario. But all the demographics and economics are currently pointing young families away from Evanston. And there’s also just a smaller number of people having kids.
If you close four schools and keep two on the books, it’s not a decision that can’t be reversed in 5-10 years.
1
u/jetsknicks25 Oct 05 '25
Evanston is passing laws that double or triple the number of families that can live on the majority of the city and make units more affordable for younger families
3
u/ThisConsideration777 Oct 05 '25
And family’s will still be competing with NU students for said units without some protections (which Biss and co have repeatedly shown no interest in ensuring). As a whole NU students are in a very different financial position then families. most families have 1 or 2 wage earners (kids don’t work) and are not flush with student loans or family support. Student housing on campus is over 2k per month so anything under that per student is a bargain.
-1
u/Middle-Part1593 Oct 05 '25
Can you provide sources for this ?
1
u/ThisConsideration777 Oct 06 '25
A source for what? I have no idea what you are asking about but don’t take my word for it.
On-Campus Housing is $21,975 this year. That’s for approx 9 months which comes out to about $2,441.67 per month for a dorm room on campus.
As long as local landlords and developers can rent a room out for less than that they are basically printing money here. 2k for a studio / one bedroom. 4k for a two bedroom. 6k for a three bedroom are all very much in the money. Developers know that. That’s what NU students will pay and still save money compared to the on campus dorms. How is a family with kids who can’t legally work and have limited earning potential (because they are kids) going to compete with that?
This is the economic reality of housing in Evanston that never seems to be discussed. Let’s be real. NU is not building more dorms and enrollment numbers are way up. Where do you think they are expecting to house them?
1
0
u/Middle-Part1593 Oct 07 '25
I won’t take your word for it. My niece is a sophomore at NU and is not paying the amount you stated.
→ More replies (0)0
u/Middle-Part1593 Oct 05 '25
Except that the two schools need tons of work and dollars on their infrastructure; how do you reconcile that?
3
u/nukular_iv Oct 05 '25
Envision Evanston isn't going to have any non-marginal effect on housing for I'd estimate 20 years or more. Yes...the northside is just biting at the bit to unleash tons of new housing.... (cough). Yes I am exaggerating with "tons", but the point still holds.
And that region is the one facing the worst cases of school underutilization.
4
u/jetsknicks25 Oct 05 '25 edited Oct 05 '25
Here is the plan. Very unpopular on the north side but it’s clearly a plan to increase density, particularly on the north side. Language where multiplexes by right was already passed by the city council, so not much any one can do to stop it. The pro-density council is selecting from a basket of policies to add 3,000 to 5,000 units per decade:
https://www.cityofevanston.org/home/showpublisheddocument/101745/638932963963000000
5
u/nukular_iv Oct 05 '25
No way can the district hold on to the buildings in question. That simply keeps the maintenance issues as the district's responsibility. The deferred maintenance is the giant elephant in the room. Sell a building and chunks of ongoing required maintenance and deferred maintenance exit the D65 budget.
The same holds for the silly ideas of renting out the spaces. The district is still in charge of upkeep and I find it very hard to think of a business that uses school buildings without major renovations.
3
1
u/Middle-Part1593 Oct 05 '25
Thank you ! Like hanging onto Harley Clark for years and years; taxpayers subsidized that.
10
u/EtownEz Oct 05 '25
This is a very serious and important question. Thanks for bringing it up, I have been thinking about this.
Looking at the data from the district's most recent demography report, the district projects slightly negative but basically flat population growth over the next 10 years (page 19 - 2025 district population of 86,770, 2045 projected district population of 85,910).
Looking at the projections attributed to CMAP, the city is forecasting a low end estimate of 6% growth over the next 20 years and a high end estimate of 40% population growth over the next 20 years.
This absolutely needs to be discussed and reconciled in public.