After helping guide Evanston/Skokie School District 65 through a turbulent period of financial instability, the district’s Chief Financial Officer Tamara Mitchell has announced plans to step down from her executive position, effective June 30.
Mitchell announced her resignation in an email addressed to staff members Feb. 19, District 65 Communications Manager Hannah Dillow confirmed in an email. Mitchell has served in the role since July 2024.
“I am incredibly proud of the work accomplished during my time with District 65,” Mitchell wrote in an email to staff, “particularly in advancing structural deficit reduction efforts, strengthening financial transparency and supporting meaningful community-engaged planning during a period of significant challenge and change.”
“While important work remains ahead, I am confident that the progress made has established a solid foundation for continued forward momentum,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell’s resignation comes in the wake of a significant financial restructuring within the district to address its years-long budget deficit. Currently in Phase III of its Structural Deficit Reduction Plan, D65 hopes to make approximately $10 to $15 million more in cutbacks to its budget in the hopes of achieving fiscal stability.
Following Omar Salem’s resignation from his seat as a Board member in November 2025, the District had remained at an impasse over which two additional schools it would choose to close by the end of the current school year. (The Board had already voted to shutter the bilingual magnet school, Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies, back in June 2024.)
After a couple of months of deadlock with Board votes reaching a 3-3 tie in Salem’s absence, the Board in January finally broke that deadlock and gave preliminary approval to close Kingsley Elementary School. The district has now moved to advance plans to reassign current students at Kingsley Elementary to other schools in the area, with plans to open a new elementary school, Foster School, this upcoming fall. Foster School, in Evanston’s Fifth Ward, has been under construction since July 2024.
Since beginning her role as CFO, Mitchell has been at the helm of the reduction efforts to shore up the district’s bottom line, at times placing her at odds with district parents.
“We know that considering school closures is difficult and deeply personal,” D65 officials wrote on their website under the district’s Structural Deficit Reduction plan, “especially for the school communities who may be most impacted.” Officials said throughout the school closure process, the Board is “committed to centering the needs of students.”
“We are deeply grateful for Tamara’s steady leadership during a pivotal time for our District,” Dillow said on behalf of the Board.
“She brought a deep wealth of expertise and thoughtful guidance which has put us on a path toward financial sustainability. And while we are not there yet, we believe we are in a far stronger position today because of her vision, discipline, and dedication. We wish her well in her next chapter.”
Dillow said Superintendent Angel Turner will work with Board leadership to “determine next steps,” but in the meantime would “work collaboratively with Tamara and the financial services department to ensure continuity and a smooth transition in the coming months.”
