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Parents and teachers urge board to preserve Willard bilingual strand and special‑ed support
Summary
Dozens of parents, teachers and program advocates told the Evanston CCSD 65 board that closing TWI/TWE strands at Willard would harm bilingual families and special‑education students, and several called the district's utilization data into question.
Before the board's votes, many public commenters focused on the future of two‑way immersion (TWI/TWE) programs and protections for special‑education placements.
Kelly Post, president of DEC, opened public comment by saying, "Tonight's decisions will bring significant change" and urged the board to center educators and students in planning (SEG 061–066). Multiple Willard parents and TWI advocates, including Alex Bonner and Bevin Seifert, said the district's enrollment data undercounted demand and that the Willard TWI strand is well attended; Bonner said, "Eliminating a successful program does not move us toward equity" (SEG 362–389). Bevin Seifert noted that prior advisory committees did not recommend closing a TWI strand and pressed the board for clarity about financial savings from removing TWI (SEG 808–836).
Several speakers described concrete program impacts. Heather Bruner, a veteran special‑education teacher, warned that moving STEP students for logistics alone would "recreate these regressions" and remove hard‑won stability for vulnerable students (SEG 305–334). Parents and community groups asked the board to remove closing Willard TWI from the closure scenarios until the district can present robust, representative enrollment figures and account for transportation and other costs that could offset closure savings (SEG 392–424; SEG 1112–1134).
Speakers also pressed for transparency and clear metrics: Kelly Farley and others asked the board to define dates, dollars and thresholds to determine if and when future closures would be necessary (SEG 635–646). Community analysts from groups such as the Legion of Data Nerds presented calculations that closing one school might save roughly $1.7 million annually and two schools about $3.3 million yearly, but they warned most savings would come from staffing reductions and could harm direct student services (SEG 1043–1050).
No definitive correction of enrollment data or immediate guarantee of program protections was made on the record; the board next debated and then voted on whether to open formal hearings on closures. The public's pleas to preserve TWI/TWE and protect special‑education placements directly framed the board's final discussions and the narrow, contested votes that followed.
