After years of discussions and debate, full-day kindergarten is a step closer to becoming part of the curriculum in Park Ridge-Niles School District 64.
It’s a program the district’s superintendent says he would like to see up and running as soon as next year.
The District 64 Board of Education on Aug. 12 formally approved a motion to implement a full-day kindergarten program with an estimated construction cost of $23.5 million to $25.9 million.
The motion, which was recommended by district administration, calls for building additions and renovations at each of the district’s five elementary schools in order to accommodate new classrooms. It also includes upgrades to Jefferson School in Niles, the district’s early childhood center, and the relocation of the district’s administrative offices at 164 S. Prospect Ave. in Park Ridge to Jefferson.
“This has been a conversation in this district for a long time, so I think it’s very exciting to feel it’s real now and it’s really happening,” said District 64 Supt. Eric Olson following the meeting.
“This is exciting — exciting times for the district,” said Board President Denise Pearl.
The next step will be to direct the district’s architectural firm, Studio GC, to develop more detailed drawings of how the schools can accommodate additional classes and what an upgraded Jefferson School will look like, Olson said. Preliminary drawings were also presented to the board on June 3, though they were not made public.
The school board will then vote to put the project out to bid, which Olson said he would like to see happen this fall in order for full-day kindergarten to begin at the start of the 2022-23 school year.
“That’s if we stay on a certain timeline,” he acknowledged.
Meetings with parents and community members will also take place, Olson said.
Additionally, the school board must decide how to pay for the construction and additional staffing costs, which are currently estimated at $1.2 million annually. Olson said this discussion will occur at the board’s next meeting, which is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. at Carpenter School, 300 N. Hamlin Ave. in Park Ridge.
“Really, today is one step in the process,” Olson told the board. “There are many steps still yet to go.”
The vote for the recommended full-day kindergarten option was not unanimous, with Board Member Gareth Kennedy voting “present.”
“I’m in favor of the educational side of it, I’m just not a big fan of this option,” he said.
Kennedy in July had asked that a community survey on full-day kindergarten be conducted first, suggesting that the board needed “better data” before implementing the program. In June he presented a motion to “prepare a binding referendum for full-day kindergarten,” but it failed by a 4-3 vote.
Additionally, Kennedy had expressed interest in moving fifth-grade classes to the district’s middle schools in order to open up space for full-day kindergarten in the elementary buildings.
Board Member Tom Sotos, who in July said he did not agree with the neighborhood school full-day kindergarten option because he felt not enough research had been done, was absent for the Aug. 12 vote.
Sotos had also previously stated that he did not feel there was enough community support for full-day kindergarten.
A second option for offering full-day kindergarten in District 64 called for turning Jefferson School into a kindergarten center, at an estimated cost of $24.9 million. This project would have included the construction of an addition to accommodate both kindergarten and preschool students.
A survey conducted in February found that 83% of the 1,352 respondents expressed interest in a free full-day kindergarten at their neighborhood school. Support for free full-day kindergarten at Jefferson School was just 53%, according to the results.
According to a District 64 survey of 22 “comparable” suburban school districts, 15 offer full-day kindergarten and one, Glenview School District 34, will begin offering it in 2022-23.
Supporters of moving ahead with a full-day kindergarten plan in District 64 said it is time to take action.
“I feel we have everything we need to make this decision,” said Board Member Rebecca Little. “I think full-day kindergarten is the Charlie Brown football of our district. It has been more than 15 years of informational sessions, which have come to nothing.”
Little added that the district is “behind” the majority of other districts in the state by only having half-day kindergarten as an option.
Board Member Phyllis Lubinski cited currently low interest rates as a reason to take on the construction projects now.
In May, financial advisor Elizabeth Hennessy presented several bond scenarios that would allow the district to take on debt and pay for construction costs without going to voters to raise the district’s tax rate.