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Bessie Rhodes parents, staff urge Evanston CCSD 65 to reinstate assistant principal and restore Mandarin program
Summary
Multiple parents and staff at the March 17 District 65 meeting criticized the administration for dismissing assistant principal Sarah Antrim Graff and removing the Bessie Rhodes Mandarin program, saying families received little or no advance notice and asking the board to reinstate staff and preserve programming.
At the March 17 meeting of the Evanston CCSD 65 Board of Education, parents and staff from Bessie Rhodes Elementary urged the board and superintendent to reverse the recent dismissal of assistant principal Sarah Antrim Graff (referred to in public comments as “Miss AG”) and to restore the school’s Mandarin language instruction.
The speakers said the cuts came with little communication and asked the board to prioritize stability for students as the district implements broader program changes. "I found out it was gone from my second grader, after school, in the car ride home," Kate Odegaard, a Bessie Rhodes parent, said, describing how she learned the Mandarin program had been removed.
Why it matters: Commenters said the assistant principal and Mandarin teacher are central to Bessie Rhodes’…
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