The Evanston/Skokie School District 65 board on Monday approved the controversial removal of Lincoln Elementary School’s teacher parking lot to make way for more green space, an action parents have asked the board to take ever since the lot was built six years ago.
Under the two-year plan, which Lincoln teachers opposed, the district will spend $16,700 this fiscal year to convert the teacher lot into a blacktop playground for students at Lincoln, 910 Forest Ave. Next year, the lot will be removed and made into green space at a cost of about $10,000.
Board member Greg Klaiber said the lot should be removed because of the need for more open space in the Lincoln neighborhood, one of the densest areas of Evanston.
“Having grown up in that neighborhood, I do realize how little green space there is,” Klaiber said.
To replace the lost parking spaces, the district will expand the main lot at the school by 10 spaces. It also will lease 14 spaces from a city-owned lot across the street from the school, at Judson Avenue and Main Street, under an agreement signed with the city more than a year ago.
The board voted 6-1 for the measure on Monday after little debate. It had heard from several speakers and had heavily debated the issue of removing the parking lot at its Oct. 22 meeting, when the issue was introduced.
After that meeting, the district revised the measure to reflect board concerns about high costs in a year when the operating budget already has a $1.5 million deficit. As a result, the project was split into two phases so that costs are spread out over two school years.
To recoup some of the money that will be spent on the project, the district will sell overnight and weekend parking passes to neighborhood residents who want to park in Lincoln’s main parking lot, with some of the money going to the school.
The Lincoln PTA, which spearheaded the fight to remove the teacher lot, estimated the overnight and weekend passes would bring in at least $5,000 a year.
Klaiber said the plan is the best proposal the board could find after meeting opposition from teachers, who have fought the lot’s removal because they want to continue to park on school grounds.
“I do believe this is a win-win situation,” Klaiber said. “I’m sorry it has caused so much acrimony.”
John Lalley, president of the teachers’ union, said many of Lincoln’s teachers are still upset about the lot but will have to accept the board’s action and move on.
“We’re not happy, and we’re not surprised with the outcome,” Lalley said. “We fought it out with the procedural process and lost. The board was responding to its parent community.”
The school board approved the building of the teacher parking lot on top of green space in 1995 with little discussion. Parents immediately opposed the new lot because it removed about a quarter of the area’s green space.
Board member Rosie Rees was the only member to vote against the measure. She has said the district should not spend money to remove a lot it paid for six years ago, and she said on Monday that the agreement with the city might expire if the city sells the parking lot.
“I was concerned that the city plan didn’t guarantee teachers continued parking,” Rees told The Daily after the meeting.
On Monday, the board also voted to adopt its 2001 estimated tax levy of $62.9 million. The action begins the process of setting the final tax levy in December.
