September 2, 2026 | Freeport, IL
Presented by Brian Keller
FOR THE PEOPLE | F4F NEWS
Investigative Reporting, Editing & Publication
Joshua T. Atkinson
Chairman | Fighting4Freeport
As Freeport's student population changes, district records reveal rapidly growing budgets, six-figure consultant authorizations, conferences, travel, hotels and professional development. The question isn't whether multilingual students deserve greater investment. It's whether that investment is actually reaching them.
Freeport is changing.
You can see it in our neighborhoods, our businesses and, increasingly, inside the classrooms of Freeport School District #145.
Illinois Report Card data show Hispanic students represented approximately 10.8% of FSD145 enrollment in 2018. By 2025, that figure had climbed to 16.9%.
During the same period, the percentage of students identified as White declined from approximately 49.4% to 42.4%. Black enrollment remained considerably more stable, moving from approximately 25.4% to 24.7%, while students identified as two or more races increased from 13.2% to 14.9%.
Those numbers don't tell us why Freeport's demographics are changing. They also don't tell us how many Hispanic students require English-language assistance. Race and ethnicity should never be confused with English-language proficiency.
But they do establish something important: The students walking through FSD145's doors today represent a significantly different demographic mix than they did less than a decade ago.
If those changes have created greater demand for bilingual and multilingual education, then greater investment may not only be understandable. It may be necessary.
More bilingual teachers, classroom resources, language instruction, communication with parents and assistance for students entering classrooms without English proficiency are investments our community should want to make.
But after reviewing hundreds of pages of FSD145 financial records, Fighting4Freeport believes taxpayers should be asking another question:
Is that where the additional money is actually going?
From Roughly $796,000 to Nearly $2 Million
Fighting4Freeport has spent months reviewing financial records obtained from Freeport School District #145 through the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.
What began as a relatively simple inquiry into Multicultural Department spending grew considerably as we followed the records.
District budget documents show significant growth in spending associated with ESL (English as a Second Language) and Multicultural programming. The Educational Fund budget identified in records increased from approximately $795,611 in FY2024 to $1.78 million in FY2025, before approaching $2 million in FY2026.
That is an extraordinary increase over a remarkably short period.
But some of the growth clearly went where taxpayers might expect it to go: teachers and aides.
Budget records show ESL teacher salaries increasing from approximately $459,000 in FY2024 to more than $924,000 in FY2025. The budget for ESL aides increased from approximately $36,000 to nearly $139,000 during the same period.
That's important because it would be unfair to characterize the entire increase as administrative overhead, consulting or travel. A substantial amount appears connected to additional personnel serving students.
But the records show considerably more.
$134,000 in Three Consultant Authorizations
In September 2024, FSD145 approved an open purchase order for $45,000 to Danielle Salto Consulting LLC for what district records describe as "District-Level Support."
That same month, the district approved a $59,000 purchase order for Nancy Herrera, described as instructional coaching. Days earlier, FSD145 approved another $30,000 purchase order for Heart Shift Consulting, described as "Equity: SEL Consulting Service."
Those three purchase-order authorizations alone total $134,000.
And those are only three consultant authorizations identified in the records. Other documents reference additional work involving Jacalyn Rubio and expenditures described as instructional coaching, technical assistance, curriculum development, professional development and district-level support.
An important distinction needs to be made here: A purchase order represents authorization to spend money. It does not necessarily establish that every dollar authorized was ultimately paid. Invoices and general-ledger records are necessary to determine final payments.
But the size of the authorizations raises an entirely legitimate question:
What did the students of FSD145 receive for that investment?
Consultants Aren't Inherently a Problem
Outside consultants aren't automatically wasteful. A consultant with specialized expertise can help a district develop curriculum, train teachers, repair an ineffective program or provide knowledge unavailable internally.
The question isn't whether FSD145 should ever hire consultants. It's whether taxpayers can determine what services were purchased, how the consultant was selected, how much was ultimately paid, what deliverables were required, what work was completed and what measurable improvement resulted.
A $45,000 consultant may provide $45,000—or considerably more—of value.
But taxpayers cannot determine that from a purchase order containing a broad description such as "District-Level Support."
Conferences, Hotels, Airfare and Professional Development
The financial records also show extensive professional-development and conference activity.
District records reference expenditures associated with NABE, La Cosecha, ALAS, TABE, AVID Summer Institute, IATD and other educational conferences.
The FY2026 purchase-order records include a $5,587.55 authorization associated with the La Cosecha Conference and another $2,970 for NABE conference registration.
And those aren't necessarily the complete costs of attending. Across the records reviewed by Fighting4Freeport are expenses associated with hotels, airfare, meals, mileage, Uber and other ground transportation, as well as conference registration.
Professional development can absolutely benefit students. Teachers learn new strategies, administrators learn about successful programs and educators can bring new ideas back into classrooms.
But once again, the relevant question isn't whether professional development should exist.
It's how much all of it cost, WHO attended and what came back to Freeport's classrooms as a result.
Books, Classrooms and Direct Student Spending
There is another side of the ledger that deserves equal attention.
The records contain significant expenditures that appear much more directly connected to classrooms and students.
In August 2024, FSD145 approved an $18,185.12 purchase from Umbrella Books for classroom libraries.
FY2026 records include another $6,600 Umbrella Books order for Jones-Farrar IB and a $4,048 purchase associated with Learn Spanish with Frida Kahlo materials and an author talk.
The records also contain numerous expenditures for classroom materials, multilingual instructional supplies, assessments, parent engagement, cultural programming and other educational resources.
Those expenditures matter because they demonstrate something Fighting4Freeport wants to make very clear:
This is not an argument against spending money on multilingual students.
Quite the opposite. It's an argument for making sure the money being justified in their name is actually benefiting them.
Who Is Actually Benefiting From the Investment?
This may ultimately be the most important question raised by the records.
If Freeport has more students requiring multilingual services, then taxpayers should expect increased spending. But they should also expect the additional investment to become visible in the student experience.
There appear to be more bilingual teachers and aides. But the examination can't end there.
Are multilingual students receiving more individualized instruction? Are student-to-teacher ratios improving? Are families receiving better translation and communication services? Are students becoming English proficient faster? Are more students successfully exiting English Learner programs? Are attendance and graduation rates improving? Are classroom teachers receiving better resources?
And perhaps most importantly:
Has the enormous increase in spending produced a comparable improvement in student outcomes?
When Serving a Community Becomes an Institution of Its Own
Government programs often begin with a legitimate need. As that need grows, programs, departments and budgets understandably grow with it. But consulting, professional development, travel and administration can grow alongside them.
None of those expenditures individually establishes waste or wrongdoing. Yet over time, every public institution should guard against a program created to serve a population consuming an increasing share of resources without producing a proportional improvement for the people it was created to serve.
A department can double its budget. Administrators and educators can attend more conferences. Consultants can provide more training. Hotels can be booked, flights purchased, meetings held and reports written. And despite all of that activity, the experience of the child sitting behind the desk could remain largely unchanged.
We do not yet know whether that is happening in FSD145.
That's precisely the point.
The district should be able to demonstrate that it isn't.
The Students Should Come First
There is something particularly important about accountability when public spending is justified as helping students who may face additional barriers.
A child learning English didn't decide how FSD145's budget would be spent. A newly arrived family didn't select the consultants. Parents didn't approve the conference registrations. Students didn't choose the hotels.
District leadership made those decisions.
Therefore, district leadership should be able to demonstrate how those decisions ultimately benefited the people these programs exist to serve. Because marginalized communities should never become a convenient justification for institutional growth that primarily benefits the institution itself or individuals and 3rd parties.
If FSD145 is spending substantially more because multilingual students need substantially more support, then those students should be the greatest beneficiaries of that investment.
Following the Approval Chain
The purchase-order records also provide insight into how expenditures moved through FSD145.
Dannya Gomez repeatedly appears as the individual submitting requisitions. Rocio Del Castillo repeatedly appears as the first-level Bilingual Department approver and, on certain transactions, as an account-level approver for Title I. Steve Owens frequently appears as a second-level approver, while Jeremy Dotson appears as an additional approval level on numerous larger expenditures.
That doesn't establish anything improper. In fact, the records demonstrate that an approval process exists. But understanding who requested, reviewed and authorized expenditures is essential when following public money.
One Question Answered
Fighting4Freeport's original investigation also included questions regarding Via Educational Consulting.
FSD145 subsequently informed Fighting4Freeport that Via Educational Consulting was not listed as a vendor in the district's financial system.
Based upon the financial records currently available to Fighting4Freeport, we have not identified evidence of a direct district payment to Via Educational Consulting.
That finding matters. Accountability means reporting what the records actually show—even when they don't confirm the question that originally prompted the investigation.
Now Show Us the Results
Fighting4Freeport isn't prepared to declare this spending wasteful.
We're also not prepared to simply accept that increased spending must be successful because the programs are necessary.
There is a better way to answer the question:
Measure it.
Show the community how many English Learner students FSD145 served before this expansion and how many it serves today. Show us proficiency rates, academic growth, graduation rates, successful exits from language-support programs and teacher-to-student ratios.
Show us what the consultants produced. Show us the total conference and travel bill. Show us how much of this expansion was paid through federal and state grants and how much ultimately fell upon local taxpayers.
Then put those results beside the increased investment.
If the results demonstrate that FSD145's multilingual students are receiving substantially better services and achieving substantially better outcomes, taxpayers deserve to see that success.
If they don't, taxpayers deserve to know that too.
This Isn't About Hispanic Students
It's about making sure Hispanic and multilingual students are getting what taxpayers are being told they're paying for.
It's about ensuring that a changing Freeport has schools capable of serving every child who walks through their doors.
And it's about making sure that our school board says millions of dollars are necessary to help a community requiring additional support, the greatest beneficiaries aren't consultants, conferences or bureaucracy.
They should be the students.