Comment to Evanston Roundtable by Keith Terry

On March 14, 2012, former school board president Keith Terry submitted the following comment to the Evanston Roundtable:

On March 20, voters will make a very important choice about education in District 65, voting on the $48.2 million dollar school capital improvement referendum.

For many years, the D65 School Board has grappled with trying to solve complex capacity and inequity issues. Yes, the Board did the right thing by putting this comprehensive referendum question on the ballot. As a former School Board member and Board president, I urge you to join me in voting “yes” for our schools and “Yes” for our community.

Voting yes will bring a new, state of the art school to the Central Core of Evanston, serving the fifth ward and parts of the second ward. A new neighborhood school will drastically reduce busing for nearly 400 students, address space issues at Lincolnwood, Willard and Orrington, bring economic development to all of Evanston, and most importantly, bring dynamic new programs to our District.

Second, the initiative builds 21st century additions at Haven and Nichols middle schools to relieve the pressing demands of high enrollment. By 2016, there will be over 850 students enrolled at Haven and nearly 740 at Nichols. The Better Schools Initiative builds16 new classrooms eight at both Haven and Nichols.

Finally, new funds will enable us to create STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) labs at the all middle schools in addition to King Lab and locker rooms at Bessie Rhodes, a critical improvement in privacy. By bringing new science approaches and new engineering capabilities, STEM labs give students an exciting arena to learn about the world. Passage of the referendum means that funds currently allocated for building maintenance and repair, life safety work and technology updates throughout the district can be preserved for that purpose and not used to solve capacity issues.

D65 needs the support from our entire Evanston community to enhance our public schools. To do so will require new ways of doing things and a concerted focus by the entire community. This referendum is long over due.

On March 20, vote “yes.” Our students need you.