Yet another change at Bessie Rhodes
The majority of 7th and 8th grade families at the Bessie Rhodes have decided to send their children elsewhere in District 65 after all.
Given a last chance Monday to change their minds, all of the 8th grade parents who had opted to stay at the magnet school have now decided to send their kids to either King Arts or to their neighborhood middle school, according to a message from Superintendent Angel Turner.
That means that Bessie Rhodes will drop from K-8 to K-7 as after Nov. 15.
And only eight 7th graders will remain at Rhodes, with the rest going to King Arts magnet or their neighborhood middle school.
As of last week, ten families with 8th graders and ten with 7th graders had listed staying at Rhodes as their first choice.
Ironically, these decisions by the 41 Rhodes families (23 in 8th grade, 18 in 7th grade) is close to what the district proposed last month, prompting a near-revolt by the impacted families.
Superintendent Angel Turner had wanted all the 7th and 8th graders to return to their home middle schools, due to a teacher shortage at Rhodes.
This latest scenario, worked out after meetings with parents as well as surveys, included King Arts as another option.
The district says a variety of steps will be taken to welcome Rhodes students to their new schools.
There is no word yet on what will happen to the 7th graders next year who remain at Rhodes now — in other words, will there still be a grade 8 there for just a handful of kids?
However that turns out, Rhodes will close at the end of 2025-26, with K-6 students going elsewhere, such as Foster School in the 5th Ward, other elementaries, or a middle school for 6th graders.
Rhodes parent Juana Vazquez expressed concern to Evanston Now about how the school board and administration has handled the Rhodes situation, saying "it's disheartening to see such a lack of empathy," which led to actions which have "divided our school community in less than a month," and will lead to more declining enrollment long-term.
Vazquez added that "we must pay attention to how this situation could affect other public schools in District 65 that are also at risk of closing. If they [the board and administration] could act in this manner with Bessie Rhodes, who is next?"
