Some Dewey TWI families express frustration after district cancels second engagement meeting

Evanston/Skokie District 65 administrators canceled a second meeting for Dewey Elementary School Two Way Spanish/English Immersion (TWI) families scheduled to take place Thursday. Several Dewey TWI parents told the RoundTable that the decision upset them. A Wednesday email from Assistant Superintendent Maggie Gordon and District 65 Director of Multilingual Services Cecilia Romero said the meeting was being pushed back until they had “more clarity on next steps.” The cancellation comes after a contentious session Nov. 2, when Dewey TWI families walked out of a meeting with administrators. The meeting was scheduled to discuss the program following the proposal of a sweeping budget plan Oct. 13 . That plan would close Lincolnwood and Dewey elementary schools. As part of Dewey’s closure, administrators said, its TWI program would move to Lincoln Elementary School. About a third of native Spanish speakers and bilingual students in the Dewey TWI program already live within Lincoln attendance boundaries, according to a slide presented Oct. 13. In their email Wednesday, administrators wrote about the Thursday meeting, saying that their “original intent” was to present options and gather ideas about the future of TWI if Dewey were to close. “However, as the evening unfolded, it became clear that the community needed something different from that space,” Gordon and Romero wrote. “We heard, and deeply respect, that families were not ready for this discussion and instead needed space to express their feelings, advocate for Dewey, and ensure their voices were heard.” Parent reaction to cancelation “I wanted to just share that the email that they sent us last night was very condescending, and it is just a clear illustration of how they are not seeing or hearing us,” TWI parent Andrea Elliott told the RoundTable Thursday. In a statement Thursday, District 65 communications chief Melissa Messinger wrote that the intent “was never to be dismissive or condescending,” and said that the district “is sorry that the message was received that way.” Valentina Arama, another Dewey TWI parent, told the RoundTable in an email that the “entire situation” was “frustrating and overwhelming.” “The constant back and forth, changes in plans, cancelled meetings, and lack of clear answers are exhausting for everyone involved,” Arama wrote. Feeling known and heard Over the past several weeks, some members of the Dewey TWI community have said they have not felt included or seen in this budget planning process. At the Nov. 2 meeting, parents arrived with handouts in both English and Spanish detailing specific asks and concerns to share with administrators. The sheet parents brought Nov. 2 outlined a portion of the Illinois School Code , which “requires meaningful parent involvement in transitional bilingual program planning, operation and evaluation” through a Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee. Another state statute requires that this committee participate in “planning, operation and evaluation” of bilingual programs. According to emails reviewed by the RoundTable, Romero told parents prior to the Nov. 2 meeting that there is no such committee active in the district, a fact she confirmed in-person to parents. Elliott said the email from administrators Wednesday was a clear illustration that they still do not understand what families are asking for — representation in the process, according to their understanding of state regulations. She added that she had not heard from any District 65 officials since the Nov. 2 meeting, with the exception of the email canceling the meeting. “So it was — it’s just really disappointing to see that they did not understand or hear what we were asking for,” Elliott said. Peter Rios, another Dewey TWI parent who has been active in advocating for the community, said he found it “a little bit disrespectful” to cancel the meeting just a day before. Rios said he appreciated Gordon’s approach in the meeting Nov. 2, especially the way she sounded “very emotional.” “So it’s hard … I think that they’re trying to portray this very honest and open and emotionally … acknowledging and stuff. But I don’t think we’re there anymore,” Rios said. The email from Gordon and Romero also included the presentation that would have been shown to families Nov. 2. It included two options for Dewey TWI — moving the whole strand to Lincoln, as had been previously discussed, or assigning Dewey TWI families to other schools with existing TWI programs, based on their residence. Both Elliott and Rios said they had reached out to school board member Sergio Hernandez, asking him to meet with members of the TWI community. Both said that they hoped he would listen to the community and possibly be an ally, because of his shared identity with many members of the TWI community. “I have my reservations with him from past things that we have lived with him as a community and I am trying my best to, like, throw an olive branch out there and say, ‘I want you on our side, ‘cause you are Latino, ‘cause you speak Spanish, ‘cause you understand us, so you should represent us.’ And that’s why I’m trying to appeal to him, personally,” Rios said. In an email to the RoundTable Thursday evening, Hernandez said he spoke to a group of Dewey PTA parents and a Dewey TWI teacher last week, where they “respectfully exchanged each other’s perspectives regarding the plan proposed by District 65 administration.” He added that the meeting also included sharing “our respective experiences and hopes of improving Two Way Immersion across the school district.” “I plan on responding to as many emails from Dewey and other district parents as time allows in the next several days,” Hernandez wrote. Rios and Elliott both told the RoundTable via text that they had not heard from Hernandez by the time of publication. In her own email to the RoundTable, Arama wrote that her frustration went beyond the canceled meeting. She said she lacks confidence in the board and administration based on their handling of the decision-making process this fall. “I would much rather see accountability, transparency, and a genuine effort to find sustainable solutions,” Arama wrote, “than another rushed decision that places the burden on children and families.” Related Stories