Offering full-day kindergarten for residents of School District 41 will require new construction with a cost between $15 million and $30 million.
During a Jan. 26 meeting, Superintendent Paul Gordon and a team of architects presented the school board with three options. They include modifying existing school buildings, building an early learning center or building a new K-5 school. Modifying and adding classrooms to schools would be the least expensive option, with estimated costs of $14.9 million to $16.5 million. The early education center for pre-K and kindergarten students has an estimated cost of $21.7 million to $23.6 million.
Both the new K-5 school and the early learning center would be built on the site of the old Spalding Elementary School, which was torn down in 1997. Karen Carlson, assistant superintendent for teaching, learning and accountability, said the K-5 school option would require the district to redraw school boundaries to shift students to the new school.
The District 41 board has been discussing the possibility of full-day kindergarten since 2012, board member Erica Nelson said. As more districts have incorporated a full-day program, exploring ways to implement one in District 41 has become more pressing, she said. District 41 and Marquardt School District 15 are the only two Glenbard feeder districts that do not have full-day kindergarten.
Gordon said any proposal to renovate the schools to accommodate full-day kindergarten would have to be supported by a referendum.
“Full-day kindergarten will happen now, or in 10 years when you have to pay more for it,” Gordon told the board.
The earliest a referendum could be placed on the ballot would be 2016, which would give district officials time to seek support from voters.
During a period of public commentary, resident Jeff Cooper criticized plans that would require new building projects, particularly anything that would have to be supported by a bond referendum. He said it would not be approved by district voters.
“It would be an exercise in futility to set plans on a building that won’t be built,” Cooper said.
The last time the district placed a referendum on the ballot was in 2006. Voters rejected a $40 million plan to renovate the elementary schools and build additions to Hadley Junior High School.
If a referendum were supported by voters, Gordon said he expects construction to begin soon after and take about 18-to-24 months to complete.
Gordon also will present a plan to add four more classrooms to Churchill Elementary School at an expected cost of $2.7 million to $3 million, which could be financed through existing district funds. Those four classrooms are in addition to a project to add five new classrooms to Churchill, which is part of a $15 million program to remove 16 portable classrooms from the district’s elementary schools. Four new classrooms already have been built at Abraham Lincoln and Benjamin Franklin schools. Forest Glen Elementary School also is slated to receive five new classrooms.
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Staff also is proposing remodeling to Hadley, which would include new and remodeled classrooms and a cafetorium that could seat 500. Renovations to the junior high has an estimated cost of $10.5 million to $12.2 million.
District officials held two community listening sessions for residents to learn more about the facility plans. District staff will present a plan to the board for a vote during the Feb. 9 meeting.