A decades-old commitment to racially integrating schools through busing should be reconsidered in favor of building neighborhood schools, according to an Evanston/ Skokie School District 65 special committee.

The committee — composed of board members, teachers, community members and Northwestern professors — submitted its proposal for a five-year plan Monday night at a D65 board meeting.

Formed by the district about a year ago to draft a five-year plan for D65, the committee prepared a report that proposes abandoning the district’s elaborate busing system, designed to foster diverse student populations at each school. The proposal also suggests moving toward neighborhood schools by building a new school in the predominantly black Fifth Ward.

Under current policy, D65 adheres to a “60-40” guideline that aims for no more than 60 percent representation of any one racial group at a school. The policy, rooted in desegregation from the 1960s and ’70s, has resulted in the busing of many students to schools far from their homes in order to achieve the diversity target.

“The issue for us to discuss is whether or not this guideline has improved the academic achievement of African-American children,” said Judith Treadway, a community member who served on the committee. “The majority of students being moved are black students.”

Since Foster Elementary School closed in the 1970s during desegregation, Fifth Ward students have been bused to schools in other neighborhoods. The report recommends that the district re-evaluate the guideline and consider increasing the presence of neighborhood schools, regardless of the racial makeup of the community they serve.

If the D65 board decides to keep the “60-40” guideline, another proposal suggests that the “burden of busing” be shared more equally among racial groups. The district’s racial makeup is 45 percent black, 43 percent white and 9 percent Latino.

Terri Shepard, a former board member, was co-chairwoman of the committee with parent Tracy Wallace. The report’s goals are the result of more than 900 comments and “challenges” collected by the committee concerning eight issues, including achievement, race, teaching and district accountability. The strategic planning process was part of the three-year Lighthouse Partnership between D65 and NU.

The district will use the report in coming months as a basis for a final five-year plan.

Shepard said racial issues were brought up at nearly every workshop in every area of Evanston, which shows how important the community considers them.

“The board needs to be mindful that the community needs to see something from this document,” she said.

School board President John Chatz said the board should consider holding a broader discussion of the racial issues at a public meeting.

At least one school board member reacted skeptically, pointing out that changing the district’s desegregation guidelines would be a major policy reversal.

“Abandoning this would represent a sea-change for Evanston,” said board member Bob Eder.

In other business, several people spoke against potential budget cuts during the citizen comment portion of the meeting. The board has proposed cutting summer child care services and the district’s drama programs in kindergarten through third grade. It also is considering cutting up to 50 teaching positions districtwide.

Ebony Joy, a playwright who grew up in Evanston, joined drama teachers in urging the board to reconsider the proposal to cut drama.

She said drama programs offered to her when she was a child helped her develop her talent and enhanced her achievement in other classes.

“I don’t think we should underestimate the fact of what a creative outlet can do for a child,” Joy said. “For me, it was a forum of freedom.”

District Educators Council President John Lalley said every one of the district’s programs is important, not just the basics such as math, science and English.

“We don’t really see any of our classes as non-core curriculum,” Lalley told The Daily before the meeting.

Lalley said the union, which represents more than 600 teachers, will fight any reduction in teaching staff.

“Eliminating 50 teachers is going to affect students and programs,” Lalley said. “We’re concerned about that impact.”