Dewey TWI families walk out of meeting with District 65 administrators

About 60 parents and family members gathered at Dewey Elementary School Monday night for a meeting called by Evanston/Skokie District 65 administrators to discuss the future of the school s two-way Spanish/English immersion (TWI) program. After less than an hour, most parents walked out of the meeting; district administrators never got past the second slide of their presentation. “You did not listen to what we said. We are Dewey,” TWI parent Peter Rios said. At the Oct. 13 meeting of the District 65 school board, administrators proposed a sweeping budget plan that would close Lincolnwood and Dewey elementary schools and cut some non-mandated programs. Later in the month, Dewey parents discovered a $17 million error in the district s financial projections, though administrators have since said they will not make significant changes to the reduction plan. As part of Dewey s closure, administrators said, its TWI program would move to Lincoln Elementary School. About a third of n