Applications are open for a new Foster School Transition Committee, to be made up of district staff and administration, parents and caregivers, community members and content experts. The committee is being established to help ease the change for families into the new school.
Applications opened on Oct. 7 and will be open through the 19th. Members will be chosen by Oct. 21 and the district will hold the first group meeting on Nov. 6.
Charmekia McCoy, the district’s chief of academics and school management, will lead the group. McCoy and Kirby Callam, director of strategic project management, presented this committee to the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Board of Education at their meeting Monday night.
“The Foster School Transition Committee is principally around, ‘How can we work to set up and prepare ourselves to be opening the school in the most positive, productive, possible way?’” Callam said.
Group’s goals
The group will serve to help oversee the transition of families in the Fifth Ward from the Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies, Kingsley Elementary, Lincolnwood Elementary, Orrington Elementary and Willard Elementary schools to the new Foster School in the fall of 2026.
Between now and then, group members will help to develop engagement strategies and communicate work updates to the community. They will also act as an advisory committee on transition-related issues.
“We need this committee to lead the charge to promote the school to our families in the Fifth Ward, so that the Fifth Ward families show up on day one and enroll into school,” Callam said.
The district is seeking committee members who will focus on equity and can show up and commit to being involved. Community member applicants also must have some connection to the transition.
Staff members also plan to send out targeted emails to affected families, so they’re aware of the group and application period.
Right now, these committee meetings are not expected to be open to the public.
“We do want the members who come to really be able to have solid, engaging conversations,” McCoy said. “We want to keep these meetings really targeted.”
Foster School update
A few recent City Council decisions have helped reduce the total cost of the Foster School and add funds back into the construction contingency budget.
At their Sept. 23 meeting, the city voted to allocate $207,361 to help District 65 install a track and lights around the playing field. They also voted on Sept. 9 to allow a screen to surround the school roof instead of fencing.
These two measures, among other efficiencies, have helped to keep costs of the endeavor down, Callam said.
“We think in six or seven years, a track around that field and a little bit of lighting will be a nice asset for the community and a great benefit for the school,” Callam said.
The new school still sits under budget with nearly $200,000 added in contingency, a welcome benefit for the financially struggling district.
The construction project, currently split into three sections of bids, will also award the first two bids on Oct. 25 and 28.
Callam presented the board with a plan to split the final portion of the construction project in two. This third section includes the building’s shell, mechanical, electrical, plumbing work and all finishes.
Splitting this final bid would separate out landscaping, playground equipment, pavement, curbs and gutters. Callam explained that putting those items out to bid a year in advance might not be in the best interest of the project.
“If we put those out to bid now,” Callam said, “bidders tend to hedge costs, and those prices tend to be much higher.
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