During a packed special board meeting at Joseph E. Hill Early Childhood Center Monday morning, Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Board President Sergio Hernandez stepped down from his cabinet role in the wake of the indictment of a former superintendent.
Hernandez, the most senior member of the current board, is the only sitting member to have voted in favoring of hiring former Superintendent Devon Horton. Horton was indicted in federal court Oct. 8 on charges of fraud stemming from his time in leadership at District 65.
After Hernandez stepped down, board member Patricia Anderson was voted the new president to rousing applause from an audience of District 65 teachers and parents. Anderson, a retired teacher of 35 years in the district, is now charged with navigating the Board of Education as it looks to cut millions of dollars in expenses in order to balance the north suburban K-8 school district’s budget and close as many as four schools at the end of the school year.
Quoting esteemed African American author James Baldwin, Anderson began her remarks stating, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
“District 65 is facing some difficult realities, but we are working towards meaningful solutions,” she said.
Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Board Member Patricia Anderson was elected to lead the board as its president at the Oct. 14 Board of Education meeting. Anderson takes on the position as the district follows its Structural Deficit Reduction Plan to close up to four schools at the end of the academic year. (Richard Requena/Pioneer Press)
Hernandez remains on the school board as a member until his term expires in 2027.
“It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve as the first Latine president in this body,” Hernandez said after announcing he was stepping down as board president. “We’ve accomplished a couple of things. We’ve expanded programs that service multilingual students across the district and my tenure. We have framed equity and the work that we do through the Equity Journey Continuum, which is a nexus of my work I do at the state board around supporting students, elevating educators and ensuring that the climate is the best possible for our students at all of ours schools.”
Horton was indicted and charged by the U.S. Attorney of Northern Illinois on charges of wire fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion for actions he committed while he was district superintendent.
The indictment, dated Oct. 8, accuses Horton, two Chicago Public Schools administrators and another individual of conducting a kickback scheme where Horton was paid by his alleged co-conspirators — identified in the indictment as his “friends” — when he approved work contracts for companies they owned, while demanding little or no work to be done.
Horton and his accused friends are scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 23 at the Dirksen federal courthouse in Chicago on their respective charges.
Hernandez’s presidency includes the board’s adoption of the Structural Deficit Reduction Plan. As part of the plan’s timeline, the school board is charged with closing up to four schools by the end of this academic year — not including magnet Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies — and opening a new K-5 school in Evanston’s 5th Ward.
Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Superintendent Angel Turner, left, and Board of Education Member Sergio Hernandez, right, at a Special Board of Education meeting in Evanston on Oct. 14, 2025. (Richard Requena/Pioneer Press)
Following the vote choosing Anderson as the new board president, a 90 minutes-long public comment session included verbal attacks of Hernandez for what some considered weak leadership under Horton’s administration, as well as concerns about further school closures.
Leaders from the teachers union slammed the board.
“The indictment of Dr. Horton may have come to a shock to some, but for many of us working in this district, the effects of ongoing mismanagement have long been visible,” said District 65 Educator’s Council President Kelly Post.
District 65 Educator’s Council, the teacher’s union for Evanston/Skokie School District 65, President Kelly Post at a school board meeting on Oct. 14 in Evanston. (Richard Requena/Pioneer Press)
“While we acknowledge that several current board members are new to their roles and not directly connected to past decisions, it is critical to note that two members remaining on this board did serve during the period of mismanagement. In light of this and in the interest of restoring public trust, we strongly urge these individuals to take responsibility for their oversight failures and resign,” Post said, to booming applause from an audience of about 100 parents and district staff.
After the meeting, Hernandez spoke to reporters about why he choose to resign when the Horton indictment became public.
Hernandez said his resignation is “at the community’s request.”
“It’ll work out better for them in regards to how we continue on this particular process and try to regain community trust as we continue on with the [Structural Deficit Reduction Plan] process,” he said.
An online petition at Change.org, organized by a former District 65 parent, slammed Hernandez following the Horton indictment. The petition had over 350 signatures as of Tuesday, but it was not immediately clear how many signees have direct ties to the school district.
Hernandez, who works for the Illinois State Board of Education, said he hopes to still be an asset to the board where he can share his unique insight as a former local educator, and be a bridge into Evanston’s diverse community.
