The Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Board of Education swore in its newest board member, advanced changes to transportation policies and reviewed several district-wide updates at its Monday night meeting.
Following public comment, Board President Patricia S. Anderson officially swore in Chris Van Nostrand, filling the seat of former board member Omar Salem, who resigned in November.
Van Nostrand’s appointment to the board was announced in an email to families last week. He will serve for the remainder of Salem’s term, until April 2027.
Board agrees to change transportation policy, approves Foster construction projects
The board moved forward with standardizing transportation policy across the district, which currently operates under two transportation plans.
The district is considering rescinding a board policy that sets different criteria for magnet school and neighborhood school students. Eliminating this policy would establish a uniform transportation policy, reducing the district’s transportation fee revenue by about $30,000, according to Data Management Specialist Chris Koutavas.
Under the uniform policy, K-5 students will have access to free transportation if they reside more than 1.5 miles from their designated school or if there is a “serious safety hazard” on their route to school. English learners enrolled in bilingual programs at schools beyond their assigned attendance boundary will also receive free transportation.
Koutavas and District 65 Transportation Coordinator Lou Gatta also presented the board with four different approaches to determine hazard roads. The options could cut the district’s transportation costs, which currently stand at $4.2 million, by amounts ranging from $200,000 to $1.1 million.
Two of the options also proposed changing school start times for elementary schools from 9:05 a.m. to 8 a.m. and middle and magnet schools from 9 a.m. to 8 a.m.
Afterward, Gatta and Koutavas said they will return to the board’s next meeting on Feb. 23 with evaluations on several roads not currently designated hazardous under Illinois Department of Transportation guidelines.
The board also unanimously approved an agreement between the city and the district regarding several pedestrian safety projects near the Foster School. The city is now responsible for overseeing the construction of a new crosswalk at Dodge Avenue and Foster Street, as well as upgrading flashing LED signage at the Emerson Street crossings at Dewey Avenue and Hartrey Avenue. The district will pay an estimated $200,000 to the city for these projects.
Kirby Callam, director of strategic project management at the district, also updated the board on Foster’s construction progress. According to Callam, the project has totaled $10,540,807 so far, representing 28.7% of the total estimated cost of construction.
Board talks current student performance, future academic goals
Donna Cross, the district’s executive director of research, assessment, accountability and data, presented a quarterly progress update which included data on student performance, attendance rates and other metrics across grade levels.
Cross reviewed data related to the district’s i-Ready curriculum, an online instructional program offering personalized math lessons. According to Cross, all grade levels saw an increased percentage of students performing “Early, Mid or Above Grade Level Placements” from the fall to winter.
In terms of College Readiness Benchmarks, 74% of grade 5-8 students met the Language Arts benchmark, consistent with last year’s percentage. The percent of grade 5-8 students meeting the CRB Math benchmark, however, was 45%, marking a dip from last year’s 49%.
Van Nostrand raised concerns over the district’s use of “internal benchmarks,” asking whether the district should continue measuring student progress based on previous performance rates or whether benchmark goals should instead aim for perfection.
Cross responded by emphasizing the importance of running “strategic goals” that are “attainable” and “relevant to the current state we’re in.” Van Nostrand later said he thinks focusing on the “realistic part” can sometimes represent “a little bit of an unnecessary constraint.”
The presentation also included data on behavioral incidents and out-of-school suspension rates. Black students were disproportionately disciplined, prompting Board Vice President Nichole Pinkard and member Mya Wilkins to question the district’s current disciplinary strategies.
An interactive data dashboard will soon be available on the district’s website, providing school-level and district-level metrics, including enrollment, attendance and assessment data, Cross said.
Superintendent Angel Turner said she was “really excited” the board discussed student performance instead of the district’s Structural Deficit Reduction Plan. She credited district staff members and educators for “working extremely hard to bring this along.”
“When we see the data start to move, I just really want to celebrate them publicly because we don’t get a chance to do that enough,” Turner said.
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Related Stories:
— ‘We’re making history’: Families express excitement, raise questions at Foster family meeting
— Chris Van Nostrand named to D65 board as district navigates period of transition
— Kingsley parents express concerns about district’s future at community engagement meetings
