D65 School Closure "Listening Session" Thurs. 10/23

Central Street Neighbors Association urges residents of Evanston-Skokie Elementary School District 65 to express their views about proposed school closings this Thursday evening, 7pm, Oct. 23, at a "listening session" at the former church at 2715 Hurd Avenue (where we held our mayoral candidate forum).

District 65 initially, about Sept. 29, rolled out 10 scenarios for closing schools (scroll down at the linked page to review) starting with the 2026-27 school year. All involved closing Lincolnwood or Kingsley, 7 of 10 involved closing both, and some involved Willard or other schools in the district. Subsequently, the Board, before public input concluded, has narrowed the public discussion to only three scenarios, all of which would close both Lincolnwood and Kingsley:

• 3D-Revised 10/9 (close Lincolnwood, Kingsley, and Washington, shifting programs at others)
• 3B-Revised 10/9 (close Lincolnwood, Kingsley, Dawes, shifting other programs, feeder patterns)
• 3X (close Lincolnwood, Kingsley, King Arts, and Dewey; open a K-5 King Elementary)

All schools, students, and families will be affected by redrawn boundaries and fiscal and educational impacts even if their school does not close. The Board has held a number of meetings presenting these scenarios; however, none have been in the 6th Ward (although Supt. Turner held a coffee at Curt's Cafe in April). The District also several weeks ago invited neighborhood associations such as CSNA to apply to host "listening sessions" to be attended by up to two Board members, as forums primarily devoted to community feedback. CSNA applied on Oct. 3 or 4 to host one this week, finally heard back Friday Oct. 17 of the District's interest, and, on Oct. 20, that a Board member may be available. CSNA regrets the late notice, recognizing that many people are dealing with much on their plate at the moment.

We hope you will take the opportunity to review plans and to come and weigh in Thursday night. This is a critical moment for our neighborhood and for all of Evanston. This is also another example of church building owner Steven Rogers's generosity in making the facility available to the neighborhood.

Doors will open at 6:30pm. Some off-street parking is available to the north of the building and there is usually ample street parking. The Willard lot may also be available.

At the moment we have no plans to livestream but hope to make a summary and video available afterwards. If we are able to host live we will post instructions on this website; please check for updates.

This story was updated 9:00 pm Tue. Oct. 21 to reflect the Board's focusing on only three scenarios and to note the April coffee.