After more than 20 years, it looks as if the Fifth Ward will again have an elementary school.
In a 5-to-2 vote, the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 school board approved Monday the concept of opening a school by the 2004-05 academic year.
The recommendation was amended twice before the final vote. A clause about using state construction grants to fund the school was dropped, and a second amendment set the open date, which is a year later than previously discussed.
Although administrators have proposed a plan to build a new kindergarten through third grade school at the former Foster School, now owned by Family Focus, a specific plan was not part of the Monday’s recommendation — just a concept. The Foster School, which was closed in 1979, was the last school in the Fifth Ward.
Administrators will continue negotiations with Family Focus, 2010 Dewey Ave., and have architects draw up designs for the school. Superintendent Hardy Ray Murphy said that architects believe bids on building the school can be ready by early 2003. He also said the administration can come up with an educational plan soon.
Financial issues weighed heavily on board members’ minds — including how to fund the school and whether funds would be best used on building a school to improve minority achievement. Administrators gave an update on the district’s projected deficit and proposed a new amount of $14.8 million the district could borrow, twice as much as previous estimates.
Many board members worried that borrowing money would increase the school’s deficit, but Murphy said the district inevitably would be forced to borrow, with or without the school.
Board member Hecky Powell was one of the two who voted against the concept. He said the board could have voted on a concept weeks ago and that the board had to go ahead with a decision. But board members knew how they felt about the school and should be up front about these opinions, whether they voted for the school or not, he said.
“Shame on you for doing this to my community,” Powell said. “The reason I’m voting ‘no’ for this is because I know it’s not going to happen.”
Powell said he was worried that with the upcoming April 2003 school board election, new members could reverse the approval of the concept, an issue the board failed to resolve.
Board president John Chatz said that although they could have voted on a concept earlier, the discussions the board had with community members were “productive and constructive.” Having talks opened up new possibilities for the school, Chatz said.
Several board members said that they needed more time for discussion and planning, which prompted the amendment to open the school in 2004. Bob Eder, a school board member, said that although he could not vote for a school opening in 2003, he could vote for a Fifth Ward school with significant changes the year after.
Mary Erickson, school board vice president, said that the board still needed to address many other issues, such as hearing from families who lived in the Fifth Ward and considering whether it would be better to have a kindergarten through fifth grade school instead.
