School consolidation, student safety and soaring taxes were all on the mind of Skokie residents during a recent forum that brought the superintendents of the seven districts serving the village together — for the first time — to field questions from the community.

Sponsored by the group Skokie Voice, the forum covered a wide range of topics — including the potential impact of decreasing revenues on the quality of education delivered in the classroom, residency requirements for students, the challenges of meeting the needs of special education students, and the increased demand for free and subsidized lunches.

“We’ve been trying to tap into the community and issues people are concerned about,” said Cindy Gonzalez Latin, who heads the Skokie Voice schools committee. “One of them was the schools.”

Superintendents from districts 65, 68, 69, 72, 73, 202 and 219 all attended the forum and fielded questions from a Skokie Voice moderator and residents.

Questions were selected from an online survey of more than 500 people in the weeks prior to the Oct. 19 forum, and from some of the more than 120 people who turned out for the two-hour event at the Oakton Community Center.

Many of the survey respondents and those in attendance wanted to know if school consolidation would help cuts costs while allowing the schools to continue delivering a high quality education to the thousands of students in the north suburb.

“Consolidation is an incredibly complex issue,” said District 69 Superintendent Quintin Shepherd. “If it benefits kids, do it.”

The seven superintendents said there are no immediate plans for school consolidation in Skokie, and some said it’s not clear that consolidation would even save much money.

“Things are not black and white,” said East Prairie School District 73 Superintendent James Schopp. “It really comes down to incentives — will children have a better education?”

Soaring taxes and plummeting property values prompted some residents to ask if the districts are doing enough to cut costs in the face of a prolonged economic recession.

The superintendents said they have cut programs, increased class sizes, and made reductions wherever possible. But they also said cutting too much would reduce the quality of education.

“All of us are trying to control costs,” said Skokie School District 68 Superintendent Frances McTague “We are very sensitive to the economic conditions. There is no easy answer to this.”

Some concerned parents also asked about school safety. All the superintendents said safety is paramount and said their schools are better equipped than ever to protect students, thanks to the installation of security procedures, anti-bullying campaigns, cameras, school liaison police officers, and staff training.

Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Superintendent Hardy Murphy said there are now staffed vestibules in place at the entrances of the schools in his district.

“People cannot come into our schools without looking someone in the eye,” he said.

Niles Township High School District 219 Superintendent Nanciann Gatta said that school safety can be reframed as a preventative instead of a reactionary issue. She said one of the best ways to keep kids safe is by making sure all students feel connected to their school by a teacher, a club or a sport.

“When kids are connected to their school, schools are safe,” she said.

Some members of the audience asked about students who do not live in Skokie attending schools in the village, and the financial burden that causes. Many of the superintendents explained that they have implemented stringent residency requirements in recent years that have saved millions of dollars.

The superintendents also said operating costs have been driven up by an increased demand for free and subsidized lunches, adding that demand for such program has jumped by as much as 20 percent in some schools.

“It may be their only meal of the day,” said Fairview South School District 72 superintendent Cindy Whittaker.

“We’re talking about children’s basic needs,” added Gatta.

Despite challenges, Skokie schools are among some of the best in the country, several of the superintendents said. They also encouraged parents to get involved in the classrooms and with the school boards.

“They’re not our schools, they’re your schools,” said Gatta.

She also said some families move to Skokie specifically because of the high quality of the schools.

“That is the litmus test,” she said.