A new chapter has begun for North Shore School District 112, however difficult it may have been to turn the page, with the school board voting 5-2 in favor of the consolidation of the district’s dual language program.
The district plans to consolidate the program at Oak Terrace in phases, beginning with kindergarten in 2026-27, and fully transitioning all K-5 dual language program students in 2027-28, with Red Oak Elementary School closing after the 2026-27 school year, a statement to parents said.
It’s a process that has angered Red Oak’s most vocal proponents, with some parents who have become regulars at board meetings voicing their continued mistrust of the district’s leadership, and left the school board and community members drained both emotionally and — with several previous meetings running several hours — physically.
School officials have pointed to the community’s dropping Hispanic and English-learning population, as well as overall dropping student populations, as the primary drivers for the move. According to a statement from the district, since 2018 the dual language program has seen a nearly 30% decline in enrollment.
Some Red Oak parents have questioned that data, and viewed consolidation as too drastic a move without considering other solutions. Others have said the process has been run backwards, with a task force of parents, staff and teachers to be formed after a vote on consolidation, rather than before.
Red Oak parent Maria Barraza previously warned that the consolidation would destroy the community built around Red Oak, and raised concerns about a lack of engagement from the district with the school’s Spanish-speaking families.
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Board members share reasoning
While the vote was not a surprising outcome, it capped off a controversy that had grown increasingly bitter.
Board meetings saw jeering, insults and accusations of dishonesty as members spoke, and frustrated parents accused leadership of lying and maliciously molding the process to a preferred outcome. During one meeting, Superintendent Michael Lubelfeld gave a heated reprimand to parents fighting against consolidation as he implored the board to make a decision.
During Thursday’s meeting, board members each gave comments sharing their reasoning for their vote. Lori Fink and Jaret Fishman, both newcomers to the board, were the only members to vote against consolidation.
Given the divisive nature of the decision, Fishman called for delaying the vote to allow additional community engagement and await feedback from the proposed task force. While this should have been done much earlier in the process, he said, it “doesn’t mean it’s too late now.”
“Too many families affected by this decision feel unheard, confused and demoralized,” Fishman said. “We need our families to work side-by-side with us.”
Fink said that “in trying to solve one problem,” the district had created another, trading enrollment issues for division in the community. She warned that board members have “moved too quickly.”
“I know when we listen to each other and work together, we can find solutions that honor everyone,” Fink said. “Together, we will move forward.”
But other board members warned of the risks of kicking the can down the road. Board member Bennett Lasko described closing a school as the “third rail” for any school board, and the “hardest issue” they’ve ever confronted. But avoiding a decision would only delay and worsen the damage to the district, he said.
Lasko pointed to 2016, when the district faced a crisis over the closing of several schools, which he said was rooted in multiple boards over many years choosing to delay for a variety of reasons.
That controversy had also faced heavy parental resistance. It would ultimately drive two board members, including then-board President Michael Cohn, to resign after the board voted to delay the closing of several schools. In a statement, Cohn lambasted the parent community and the board’s decision to delay.
Lasko said his own children would go on to see two rounds of budget cuts as they went through the district because of that.
“It didn’t make the process any easier or any more comfortable for anybody to delay. It made it worse. It made it more painful. It made people more unhappy. So I don’t think that delaying is a good idea,” Lasko said.
Board members voting in favor of consolidation said they were convinced by the overarching data trends, noting the rising price of housing in the area, making Highland Park less attractive or even feasible for new immigrant families. Keeping two schools would mean shrinking classrooms and smaller cohorts at both Oak Terrace and Red Oak, they said.
Board President Art Kessler pushed back against concerns that the consolidation will lead to overcrowding at Oak Terrace, and said previous consolidations led to stronger schools and programs.
“Consolidation is an opportunity to strengthen the program that has been central to our district’s identity,” Kessler said. “Looking forward, I’m confident that through transparency, planning and partnership, we can build an even stronger model for dual language education.”
‘We could have done some things better’
Kessler said he believes that while difficult, the decision will be the right one in hindsight.
“In five years, when we look back at this moment, we will recognize that … consolidating our dual language program in Oak Terrace, was the right choice for our students and our community,” he said.
However, he admitted mistakes have been made in the process. Kessler hopes to take those as lessons into the future for better engaging the community.
“I look back on this process myself in terms of how it played out, and I don’t think we did everything right. I think we could have done some things better,” Kessler said. “We should really take our past experiences to heart.”
After a June 10 board meeting, Lubelfeld also expressed regret about the divide that had grown between the district and some parents. With hindsight, he said he would have moved forward with a task force process with the PTO leadership, or other members of the community, prior to making an administrative review and a board administrative decision.
“I regret that my actions or lack thereof may have caused some of this rift, and I hope that while I’m still here, I can be part of a solution to heal some of these fissures that do exist,” he said.
Looking ahead
An outline of the proposed task force and consolidation was given during the previous board meeting. The task force will be made up of Red Oak and Oak Terrace parents, staff members and administrators, to be selected in September, with a first meeting in October. The final meeting will be in April, with a report presented to the board in May.
It will have three committees: student success, family engagement and facilities and operations. Plans for Oak Terrace include renovations to its outdoor space, an issue that has been repeatedly raised during public comments.
While the technical next steps of consolidation are clear, what’s not is how the parent community will respond, and whether the passionate engagement seen leading up to the vote will translate to similar engagement with the task force and consolidation.
Kessler said he hopes for as much.
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“I hope parents remain engaged,” Kessler said. “It will really help us make Oak Terrace the best it can be.”
But Ryan Morgan, an Oak Terrace parent, was uncertain if the momentum could be continued, worrying about the “alienation of the most vocal parents.”
Red Oak PTO head Cathy Curran said she felt both schools’ PTOs should “absolutely” be a part of the task force moving forward. While parents feel “discouraged and exhausted,” it is “important to stay engaged.”
“I know myself and other parents are going to try and make it as positive as possible for our kids,” Curran said.
Looking ahead, Curran said she wanted “proactive” engagement with the community from the district, and some assurances that parents on the task force will be heard and “truly part of the process.”
Parents weren’t surprised by the decision, she said, but now is the time to, “move forward together as a community.” Curran said she has already reached out to their Oak Terrace counterparts to begin planning.