District 65 Hires Angel Turner As Permanent Superintendent Of Schools

EVANSTON, IL — The Evanston/Skokie School District 65 board voted Monday to appoint Angel Turner as its next permanent superintendent. Turner had been working in the role on an interim basis for the past nine months.

Turner was first hired by District 65 in August 2021, spending a year as literacy director before getting a promotion to become one of the district's five assistant superintendents.

Following the resignation last April of former Superintendent Devon Horton, the board tapped Turner to take his place on a temporary basis while it conducted a search for the next superintendent.

The board hired the Illinois Association of School Board to carry out the search. Fewer than 40 people applied. No finalists were publicly revealed.

Before coming to work at District 65, Turner spent three years as a principal for Chicago Public Schools, seven years with the nonprofit Academy for Urban School Leadership and more than two years with the Accelerate Institute.

---

During her 2½ year tenure at the 18-building Evanston school district, Turner has been "instrumental in the intentional investments made to strengthen the learning environment and overall culture at Haven Middle School," according to a biography from the district.

At Monday's meeting, Turner spoke through tears as she read a statement following the board's approval of her contract.

"The unwavering belief, trust, confidence, and faith that each board member has placed in me to continue to lead this district toward excellence I hold in high regard. I assure this school board, district team, and community that I will do everything—and I do mean everything—in my power to first and foremost serve the young people and staff in District 65 to the best of my ability," Turner said.

The district is facing the prospect of painful budget cuts following a financial reversal that has coincided with an exodus of administrators.

"As I recognize the challenges and hard decisions that lie ahead of us," Turner said, "it is the hope for the future of this district that gives me joy in my present."

Back in 2022, the board approved a budget that forecast a $600,000 surplus. Instead, the district is closing out the year with an approximately $7 million deficit.

A consultant hired by the board following last year's departure of the district's chief financial officer warned last month that "significant action" is needed to avoid "growing and unsustainable operating deficits," primarily caused by a declining enrollment paired with increased spending.

During the past 5 years, enrollment in the district has fallen by more than 20 percent, to just over 6,200 students. During the same period, the total full-time staff at the district has risen by nearly 17 percent and the students per administrator has declined dramatically — from 173.6 students per administrator in 2018 to 93.3 in 2023, according to the analysis.

Board President Sergio Hernandez praised Turner in a letter to families from which he read at Monday's meeting.

"Her experience, passion, and inclusive leadership style [are] exactly what our school district needs to move our goals and priorities forward,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez, who has been on the board since 2017, said Turner shares the community's commitment to "increasing our financial stability," ensuring high-quality education and prioritizing equity.

"Having continuity in the form of Dr. Turner’s steady leadership will be," he said, "impactful beyond measure in the coming years."

Records show Turner was hired by District 65 after she had been placed on the "Do Not Hire" list at Chicago Public Schools in connection with investigations by the CPS Inspector General's Office.

In the first of those investigations, first reported by Evanston Now, the office found in 2011 that Turner had taken part in a "scheme with her husband whereby they deliberately excluded the principal’s large salary from Free and Reduced-Price Meal Applications" to allow their child to qualify for free or discounted meals. Turner blamed her husband for the oversight and said she corrected the error once informed of it.

---

The other investigation is detailed in an October 2016 "significant activity report" into allegations of systematically falsifying attendance at several schools, including Orr Academy High School, the Academy for Urban School Leadership-operated CPS school that Turner supervised. The inspector general's office determined Turner was "negligent in her supervision" of the school administration there.

"Significantly, [Turner] was previously employed as a CPS principal, but resigned in the wake of an unrelated OIG investigation and was classified as a DNH," the report said. "After leaving CPS, she promptly obtained her current position with [AUSL] supervising CPS schools."

Turner has continued to deny the allegations. In 2017, she and a pair of administrators from Chicago International Charter School Longwood who were also placed on the "Do Not Hire" list sued CPS, alleging that the district treated them unfairly because they are Black. They also alleged violations of the Freedom of Information Act, despite the fact that the law explicitly exempts records of inspector general's office probes.

Their first amended complaint was mostly dismissed in 2018. They then filed two more versions, the later of which was dismissed in 2019. In that second opinion dismissing the administrators' allegations U.S. District Judge Jorge Alonso ruled that Turner failed to show that was turned down for any specific position after being placed on the "Do Not Hire" list.

"Turner nowhere alleges in her complaint that, since receiving the DNH notice in 2016, she intended to apply for employment with the [Chicago Public Schools] or that she intends to do so in the future, nor does she make any such argument in her response brief," Alonso said.

District 65's new superintendent has continued to deny the allegations from the inspector general's office. Turner told Evanston Now she gave up on her suit after the dismissal of its fourth incarnation due to the "overall impact it was having on my family and my personal finances."

Now, with the district looking to find $5 million to 6 million in savings, Turner will be tasked with improving the district's financial health.

"I take very seriously, as does our Board, the need to take permanent action to change our financial trajectory once and for all," Turner said last month in a message to the community. "Our students deserve the highest quality education in safe, supportive schools. We also must ensure staff are fully supported with the needed resources."

Related:

• Multi-Million Dollar Budget Shortfall Passed To Interim District 65 Superintendent
• Already $25 Million Overbudget, D65 Board Decides To Downsize 5th Ward School
• Devon Horton Defaults On District 65 Debt Payment Plan