Evanston/Skokie School District 65's budget projection errors have ballooned to $27.35 million, and two parent groups with sharply different goals agree on one thing: the district's finances need an independent review.

The District 65 school board postponed a vote originally scheduled for Monday, Nov. 9, with action now anticipated Nov. 16, according to Evanston Now. Board President Nichole Pinkard, Vice President Chris Van Nostrand and Interim Superintendent Eric Witherspoon said in a message to the community that "given the significance of the decisions ahead, board leadership and district administration believe it is important to allow additional time for discussion and consideration of the proposed financial stability plan."

The Nov. 16 vote would be on whether to begin the legally required public hearing process for possible school closings. It would not be a final decision to close any school.

The error

District spokesperson Melissa Messinger told Evanston Now that what was initially reported as a $17 million miscounting is approximately $27.35 million, averaging $5.47 million per year over five years. The error had two parts, as first reported by the Evanston Roundtable: double-counted capital expenditures and the omission of mandatory $3.2 million annual lease payments for Foster Elementary School.

The district had assumed that selling the now-closed Bessie Rhodes or Kingsley school buildings would offset the Foster lease obligation. Neither property has been sold, Messinger said.

The $27.35 million correction overstated costs, which in theory improves the district's financial picture. But Messinger said it "does not generate new recurring revenue or resolve the district's structural operating deficit." Adding the Foster lease payments "further compounds our operating challenges," she said.

Projected savings from closing Dewey and Lincolnwood elementary schools also dropped. Administrators originally estimated about $2.9 million in savings. Revised figures reviewed by the Roundtable showed about $2.3 million, or roughly $2 million after added transportation costs. In a Nov. 9 update, Messinger said closure-dependent staffing efficiencies would add another $1 million, bringing projected net savings to approximately $3 million.

Two parent groups, two strategies

On Sunday, Nov. 8, both Thrive 65 and a group of Dewey Elementary School parents who are attorneys issued documents ahead of the Nov. 9 board meeting, Evanston Now reported.

Thrive 65 leader Lindsey White said "the financial errors … are unacceptable" but called on the board to proceed with the $20 million budget cut plan. White said the errors "make our financial position look worse, not better." Thrive 65 wants an independent financial review but said, "We must fix this mess now. …Waiting another year to make cuts is irresponsible."

The Dewey parent-attorneys, Christopher Grohman and Joshua Stern, took a different approach. In a letter to the District 65 attorney, they said the outcome of required public hearings on school closures "appears to have been predetermined."

The group had threatened to sue the district if the budget decision happened Nov. 9. With the vote postponed, they said they will hold off on legal action for now but intend to file suit if the board votes to close the schools.

Joshua Stern told the Evanston Roundtable that the group wants to work with the district in good faith. He pointed to prior closures of Kingsley, where all three required public hearings were held within 24 hours and the resolution was adopted the same evening.

Board members respond

Board member Maria Opdycke, at the Oct. 26 board meeting, called for an independent evaluation of the district's projections "just to ensure that we don't have any additional errors," according to the Evanston Roundtable. The request drew applause from a packed crowd at the Joseph E. Hill Early Childhood Center.

Messinger said the district has since engaged external school finance professionals and two community members with financial backgrounds to review the plan's assumptions. She did not identify them.

The board plans to continue discussion Nov. 9, with the vote on whether to start the public hearing process for possible school closings anticipated Nov. 16.