West Cook News

The woman choosing River Forest School District 90’s curriculum, Allison Hawley, was forced to resign from her previous job in Winnetka, after her boss revealed she “concealed student performance data” from that community. 

That’s according to a letter distributed to Winnetka District 36 parents and taxpayers in Dec 2015, the veracity of which has been validated by West Cook News.

The letter, written by former Winnetka Caucus Schools Chair Katie Scullion, said the district had “not been forthright with performance data,” that superintendent “issued a formal apology” to the board and parents and that “Hawley, who was responsible for curriculum and assessment, resigned.”

“The District represented (test) results last winter as on par with other feeders (into New Trier H.S.),” Scullion wrote. “Our analysis found the opposite to be true, revealing Winnetka 8th graders have the lowest achievement on the (test) of all feeders. Winnetka students have the lowest achievement in math at high levels and in reading for all students.”

Winnetka reading and math scores ranked in the 99th and 100th percentile statewide, respectively, in 2011-12, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

But those percentiles fell to 54th and 70th by the 2015-16 school year.

Hawley arrived at Winnetka District 36 in 2013.

“High taxation to support excellent schools has always been a value of this community. But high taxation to support schools that are struggling to meet state standards and have such inferior performance to Wilmette, Glencoe and Northfield is troubling,” Scullion wrote. “A very large number of dissatisfied families have pulled out of the District, with enrollment declines far exceeding surrounding towns."

Equal student test scores as the goal

Four months after her Winnetka ouster, River Forest District 90 announced the hiring of Hawley as its "director of curriculum and instruction."

The District said it chose her from three finalists and eight semifinalists chosen from 53 applicants.

Hawley told Wednesday Journal she "was on leave from Winnetka writing a book off her dissertation when the position in District 90 came open."

She promised that, in River Forest, she would pursue "social justice equity," or seeking to equalize black and white student test scores, rather than increasing overall academic achievement levels in the district.

"Educational equity is very important for me," Hawley told the Chicago Tribune.

In 2021, Hawley created a new District 90 "Diversity Equity and Inclusion" committee for community members, dedicated to equalizing black and white student test scores in the district.

The board gave her a promotion last summer, and a new title-- Assistant Superintendent of Instruction-- even as River Forest test scores had fallen during her tenure.

The Illinois State Board of Education's classification of all three River Forest K-8 schools was "Exemplary" in 2016, when Hawley arrived.

They had fallen to ‘Commendable’ by 2019, as the percentage of third grade students at grade level fell from 86% to 71% in English and from 73% to 65% in math.

By 2021 just 59% of all students in the district were at grade level in English, and 57% in math.