District 64 Superintendent Ben Collins will sit down with community members for an informal coffee session at Lincoln Middle School on Thursday, Sept. 10, at 9:30 a.m.

The "Beans, Brew & Ben" event is open to all District 64 families and residents, not just Lincoln households. The district asks attendees to RSVP through a Google Form so organizers can plan for enough coffee and seating. Bring your own mug.

Lincoln Middle School, at 200 South Lincoln Ave., has been the district's most active construction site all summer. Workers discovered that a fire-rated ceiling protecting the building's wooden roof panels was missing, likely for decades, hidden behind a drop ceiling. The board approved emergency repairs at a special meeting July 21 on a 6-0 vote.

"Right now there would be nothing to stop it from engulfing the entire roof at one time," Collins told the board at that July 21 meeting, explaining why the fire-barrier work was urgent.

Construction has continued at a rapid pace since then. Director of Facility Management Michael Browning told the board at its Aug. 13 meeting that roughly 150 workers had been on site at Lincoln every day during the summer. Seven new third-floor classrooms were expected to be ready for the first day of school, with art and photo labs scheduled for a Sept. 11 turnover. The multipurpose room faces delays tied to steel availability, weather constraints and ComEd power restoration.

The Sept. 10 coffee marks the return of the "Beans, Brew & Ben" series, which the district describes as an ongoing program of informal sessions with Collins. A previous session was held in December 2023 at the Maine Park Leisure Center.

The board also extended Collins' employment contract through 2030 at its Aug. 13 regular meeting. A public hearing on the district's 2026-2027 tentative budget is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 17, at the Jefferson Early Childhood Center in Niles.