June 1 Recap: Gender Support Team, Kingsley and Rhodes Next Steps, October Ahead — and Thank You

Monday's June 1st Committee of the Whole was the last board meeting of the school year — and this is the last DEC Signal episode before summer. Three things educators need to know. First, the board received an update on the Gender Advisory Team — District 65's Gender Support Plans for transgender and gender expansive students remain in effect. In the current national climate, educators should know their responsibilities: use students' names and pronouns, maintain confidentiality, and reach out to your building coordinator with questions. Second, Kingsley Elementary and Bessie Rhodes both close Friday, June 5th. The board discussed four options for each building — retain, lease, sell, or repurpose. No decisions made. Bessie Rhodes is already projected at $4 million on the FY27 balance sheet, needed for Foster School construction. Kingsley is valued at $4.5 to $5.5 million with the City of Evanston among interested parties. Third, the board began early-stage discussion on alternative approaches to the structural deficit. October is coming — and with it, the Lincolnwood decision point. DEC remains at the table. And to every District 65 educator ending this school year: you kept teaching through everything. Summer is yours. Rest well.

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This is DEC Signal.

I'm Carol Hennessy, an AI educator voice built to represent you: fast, accurate, educator-first. Monday was the last board meeting of the school year. Here is what educators need to know. DEC President Kelly Post addressed the board Monday to close out the year. One word, she said, sums up this school year: uncertainty. Uncertainty about which schools would close. Uncertainty about where educators would work and what they would teach. Uncertainty that led, surprisingly, to something valuable: engagement.

DEC members and the broader community became more involved in board meetings and district discussions than ever before. Educators stepped outside their individual classrooms to advocate for the future of public education in this community. That engagement will not stop. DEC will remain involved, informed, and present, asking questions, sharing expertise, and insisting that educators have a voice in the decisions that affect their schools. The goal remains simple: stability. Stability for students, stability in schools, stability that allows educators to refine their practice, build strong relationships, and meet the needs of every child. As this final week of school comes to a close, students across the district are celebrating their accomplishments and saying goodbye to classmates and teachers. They deserve to return in the fall to schools focused on learning and growth, not uncertainty. The board received an update on Monday on the district's gender advisory team. District sixty-five has a district-wide gender support team that oversees individualized gender support plans for transgender and gender-expansive students. Each school has a designated coordinator, typically a school social worker, responsible for implementing these procedures and ensuring all staff understand their responsibilities. This matters for educators right now more than ever. The national climate around LGBTQ+ student protections has shifted significantly. Federal guidance has changed. States and districts across the country are navigating what their legal obligations look like under current law. In Illinois, the Illinois Human Rights Act continues to protect transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming students. District sixty-five's commitment to a safe, welcoming, and discrimination-free learning environment for every student has not changed. What does this mean for you as an educator? You are expected to use the name and pronouns that correspond to a student's gender identity. You are expected to maintain confidentiality around a student's gender identity, disclosing only to those authorized by the student and their family. And if you have questions about a specific student's gender support plan, your building coordinator is your point of contact. DEC stands with every educator working to protect the dignity and safety of all students in their care. Both Kingsley Elementary and Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies close their doors to students this Friday, June fifth. The board discussed the futures of both buildings on Monday. Four options are on the table for each: retain, lease, sell, or repurpose. No decisions were made. This is an ongoing discussion that will carry into the summer and fall. The board also discussed alternative approaches to reducing the district's structural deficit, and the October deadline is getting closer. The district still faces a multimillion-dollar gap beyond FY twenty-seven.

The board is working through SDRP phase four, the next round of structural decisions that will include a formal evaluation of whether to close Lincoln-Wood Elementary in October if financial benchmarks are not met. Monday's discussion was an early-stage conversation about what options exist beyond school closures: revenue generation, administrative rightsizing, facility rentals, and long-term asset planning. No decisions were made, but the board acknowledged that the path to financial sustainability requires more than one lever. This year has asked a great deal of you. You taught through school closures and budget fights, through counselors being cut and reinstated, through librarians being cut and reinstated, through colleagues packing up buildings where they spent decades of their lives, through board meetings and uncertainty and noise that never seemed to stop. And through all of it, you kept teaching. You kept showing up. You kept your classrooms calm and consistent for students who needed exactly that. That is the work, and it mattered every single day. Summer is yours now. Not the district's, not the board's — yours. You have earned every day of it. And DEC Signal is not going anywhere this summer. We have bonus episodes coming on your NEA member benefits, on TRS retirement tiers, and more. Resources to help you make the most of your time off, protect your finances, and take care of yourself. Because the work of taking care of you doesn't take a summer off either. I'm Carol Hennessy. This is DEC Signal, the briefing built for educators, by educators. Rest well. That is how we stay strong.

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