In the latest episode of the saga around former Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Superintendent Devon Horton, members of the D65 Board of Education indicated at a Dec. 8 meeting that they might pursue using a collections firm to recoup unpaid parts of a payment agreement.
That agreement originated in July 2023, soon after Horton left District 65 to take the helm of a school district in Georgia. Since his departure meant he terminated his contract early, the terms of the agreement required that Horton fork over $25,000 to the district.
Horton agreed to make monthly payments. More than two years later, though, Horton still owes the district more than $7,500 plus penalties, Board President Patricia Anderson said.
Yet Horton’s default on the payments ranks as only one of his many legal troubles. A sweeping, 17-count federal indictment in October accused him of running a wide-ranging kickback scheme and defrauding the district.
The indictment alleged that Horton and three associates entered into contracts with the district while concealing the superintendent’s financial involvement and performing little to no work. It accused Horton of pocketing kickbacks from the contracts — as much as $81,000, in addition to other money.
Horton and the associates have pleaded not guilty.
District 65’s early termination agreement has no relation to the federal charges of wire fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion.
“The board is relying on federal government to pursue those amounts on behalf of the district,” Anderson said. “The board may separately consider civil claims it has against Dr. Horton.”
Under the plan laid out by Anderson, the district would hire Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, a firm providing collections services to governments, to prompt Horton to cough up his unpaid balance to the school district. The firm would not charge hourly and only receive compensation if it successfully collects, Anderson said.
The board discussed the plan at Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting, but did not come to a decision.
“I personally am conflicted about spending our energy and money chasing Dr. Horton, only because I think there’s very low likelihood that we will actually collect anything,” board member Maria Opdycke said. “And I want us to be focusing on forward movement and progress in our district.”
Still, Opdycke said she liked the idea of making sure Horton’s “phone is ringing multiple times a day, reminding him about us.”
Board member Mya Wilkins followed up by commending how the firm wouldn’t charge unless it collected. The plan “makes sense,” she said.
“I think our approach has always been ‘let’s do what we can’ to get compensated, keeping that in mind, Maria, how much do we have to spend in particular, in order to try to get something where there’s no guarantee that we will,” Wilkins said.
Meanwhile, Chief Financial Officer Tamara Mitchell said the district planned to open bidding Thursday to find a firm to conduct a forensic audit of the district’s finances during Horton’s tenure. Organizations typically arrange for forensic audits in order to gather information about how and when money was spent. Such information can be used as evidence in legal proceedings.
The review of contracts and financial practices would span fiscal years 2021 through 2024. Horton served as superintendent from 2020 to 2023.
The district’s latest moves to assess Horton’s tenure arrive amid a broader fiscal turmoil that escalated around the time of his departure. Over the past months, the Board has considered plans to close various schools to save money, but when votes were taken on those various scenarios, Board members deadlocked 3-3 each time.
The impasse stems in part from a vacancy on the District 65 Board after one member, Omar Salem, resigned in early November. The Board has since met behind closed doors to discuss his replacement.
Hannah Dillow, D65’s communications manager, said Wednesday the Board is working though the process of interviewing candidates for its seventh member. Once they select a candidate, the entire Board would need to vote to approve the individual.
On a letter to the community that Anderson and Nichole Pinkard, the Board vice president, posted on D65’s website, they noted state law requires the Board to appoint a replacement member within 60 days of Salem’s Nov. 4 departure.
“If the board cannot reach consensus regarding an appointment within the 60-day period (by early January), the Executive Director of the North Cook Intermediate Service Center has the authority to fill the vacancy within 30 days (between early January and early February),” they wrote.