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Support staff urge transparency after district eliminates positions; board says cuts are 'difficult' but necessary
Summary
Support-staff leaders and paraprofessionals told the Evanston Township High School District 202 board that recent staffing reductions—"20 21 positions were eliminated across the district, and 10 of those were from the support staff bargaining unit," a union leader said—were made without adequate consultation and risk harming multilingual learners and students with IEPs. District leaders said they are aiming to minimize classroom impacts and offered support for affected employees.
Veronica McKinney, identified as support staff president, opened the public-comment period by saying, "As you know, 20 21 positions were eliminated across the district, and 10 of those were from the support staff bargaining unit," and urged the board to adopt more transparent, collaborative budget processes.
Other speakers amplified that theme. Marianne Casselberry asked the board to "keep students first" and to pause and fully examine alternatives to cuts. Sherry Iverson, World Languages Lab specialist, described the lab’s role (63 computers, specialized software, placement testing and support for the seal of biliteracy) and said closing the lab would reduce instructional rigor and preparedness for an Illinois requirement that students complete two years of world language study.
Paraprofessional Catherine Head said ETHS serves approximately 830 multilingual learners, including about 470 native Spanish speakers, and warned that combining the multilingual and world-language departments or eliminating the language-lab specialist "could weaken this commitment and ultimately harm both students and the school as a whole." Students and staff in public comment repeatedly asked the board to consider equity, multilingual supports and the needs of students with IEPs.
In response, a board representative acknowledged the comments and said the administration and board "take staffing decisions very seriously." District leadership—identified in the meeting packet and presentation as Superintendent Dr. Campbell and CFO Kendra Williams—told the board the administration reviewed the budget closely and had already taken cost-saving steps but that further reductions were needed to maintain fiscal stability. Administrators said direct student services were prioritized where possible and that some role eliminations reflected vacancies or restructuring rather than immediate classroom layoffs.
Administrators offered several supports for affected employees: early, individualized meetings prior to the holidays; written notices describing bumping and recall rights under contract and school code; offers to provide letters of recommendation and outreach to other districts; and access to standard employee assistance programs. The associate superintendent described steps intended to redeploy responsibilities (for example, distributing restorative-practices work across deans rather than relying on a single coordinator) and emphasized the district’s stated commitment to preserving student-facing services.
What’s next: The board considered and later approved personnel resolutions related to these recommended nonrenewals and reductions (see the votes-at-a-glance article for motions and roll-call outcomes). Administrators said they would continue communication with staff and the community and would attempt to minimize classroom-level disruptions while implementing the restructuring.
