At public comment during the Aug. 18 Evanston/Skokie District 65 board meeting, Bridget Utter, a parent of students at Bessie Rhodes, urged the board and superintendent to address what she described as chaotic staff reassignment at the school.

Utter said third-grade families at Bessie Rhodes were told one of the kindergarten teachers, identified in her remarks as "Ms. Martinez," would become a third-grade teacher, and that the teacher was informed at the last minute and is now "being coerced into leaving the district." Utter described the educator as a highly valued bilingual teacher who "personally binds books for her students, champions events like Hispanic Heritage Night, and has won Foundation 65 grants."

Utter told the board that the district had given third-grade families no updates with less than a week before school starts and that the turnover harms trust between parents and the district. She said the district should work proactively to retain teachers and manage the middle-school expansion and dual-language planning.

Utter directly addressed Board President Hernandez, saying the board president "bears personal responsibility" for decisions the speaker contends led to missteps at Bessie Rhodes and called on board members and administrators to "dig into this troubling situation." She also told Superintendent Turner that district staff must be proactive rather than reactive.

Utter characterized the dual-language program as resource-intensive and said "a quarter of District 65 students are enrolled in" the district's dual-language offerings. Her remarks were part of the public-comment period; board members did not take formal action on the statements during the meeting.