In an unexpected reversal, Evanston-Skokie District 65 officials have walked back their controversial decision to eliminate all middle school librarian positions at the end of the school year.
Per a Friday message sent out to families, District 65 Superintendent Angel Turner announced May 1 that the middle school library program will be reinstated following a formal vote at the Board’s upcoming May 18 meeting.
District 65 currently has three middle school librarians, one at each of three schools —Haven, Chute and Nichols Middle Schools.
The original move to cut the positions follows a larger effort by District 65 officials to achieve financial solvency in the district by reducing its sizable budget deficit.
According to the district’s Structural Deficit Reduction Plan, this has already included $20 million in cutbacks
More Top Picks Irlen Syndrome And Depth Perception Problems Explained
across its schools.The library positions are represented by the District 65 Educators’ Council, which includes a majority of unionized licensed administrators, teachers and school psychologists.
“We care deeply about our schools and the decisions being made are guided by a commitment to preserving a high-quality education for every student in this community both now and into the future,” said Superintendent Angel Turner in the May 1 letter to families.
“The work to address our district’s structural deficit is not easy but it’s very necessary. We are continuing to work alongside the School Board to determine the best possible ways to achieve the required $6.3 million in budget reductions,” Turner added.
The district announced on April 18 that middle school librarians would be “reassigned” to classrooms in D65 schools next year and would fill in for teaching roles recently vacated due to ongoing budget concerns, according to Tamara Mitchell, District 65’s chief financial officer.
But the decision to eliminate the positions resulted in widespread dissent from community members, dozens of whom signed up to voice their opposition at the district’s April 20 Board meeting.
The district declined a Pioneer Press request for comment on why the positions were being reinstated, referring back to Superintendent Turner’s original message.
“We will continue to prioritize and retain student-facing positions and services as we have done in both Phase I and II of our structural deficit reduction planning process,” Turner said in her letter to families.
Educator Council President Kelly Post told the Pioneer Press in an email that the Council was “happy to see that the administration and School Board made the right decision for our students and school communities,” in reinstating the middle school library program.
Chief Financial Officer Mitchell reaffirmed to the Board on April 20 that the district will need to cut over $6 million from its budget for the upcoming school year, in accordance with the ongoing efforts made as part of its reduction plan.
Prior to announcing its librarian cuts, the Board moved to eliminate its nine middle school counselor positions, but reversed course on April 13 following continued parent pushback on the decision.
Following a Board vote, seven of the nine counselors will remain. Nichols and Haven Middle School will each lose a counselor.
But keeping the positions means the cuts have to come from somewhere else, district leaders signaled at their April 20 Board meeting.
Officials have already voted to close Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies and Kingsley Elementary School by the end of the school year to make headway on the sustained deficit.
Continuing budget pressure and shifting Board decisions have prompted some concerned community members to conduct their own budget analysis of potential savings.
“The Legion of Data Nerds,” as they call themselves, a grassroot group of “concerned parents with data expertise,” recently published their own breakdown of administrative costs with added suggestions for how the district can utilize historic staffing patterns to work towards greater savings.
“A reduction in administrators is the most expedient way to meet our budget goals, particularly as the increase in administrators has not been coupled with improved academic performance of the district,” the Legion of Data Nerds wrote in a recent letter to the Board, later forwarded to the Pioneer Press.
“While we understand that cuts can be challenging, we posit that student-facing positions should be a last resort and not be a budget priority. We have clear historic evidence of our district functioning with a fraction of the administrators we currently have,” the group wrote.
The reported savings apply the newest release of data from the district in late 2025 following staff cuts, and were conducted using “publicly available data,” and “adjusted to incorporate inflation,” according to the group.
The Board is expected to formally vote on retaining the middle school librarians at their May 18 regular meeting.
As Turner referenced in her May 1 letter to families, educators will be notified of their upcoming 2026-27 school placements by May 22.
More Top Picks Best Smart Displays For Seniors