>Board to set referendum date for new school(posted 1/11/07)
>September Update(posted 9/12)
>BOE on track for a facilities decision(posted 5/21/06)
>December 19 Board Highlights(posted 12/21)
>Additional Nov. 28 BOE meeting documents posted(posted
12/8)
>Hadley Selected As Site For Possible New School(posted
12/2)
>Traffic
Impact Analysis of Hadley site (posted
11/29)
>Diagram of the presented building site option (posted 11/17)
>2005 NIU Demographic Study Update (posted 11/16)
>Administration recommends 5-6 intermediate school at Hadley(posted 11/15)
>District 41 facilities recommendation set for Nov. 14(posted 10/28)
>October 24 Board Highlights (posted 10/26)
>Facilities recommendation presentation November 14, 2005(posted 9/21)
>Either Hadley or Spalding could be suitable for a new school(posted 9/14)
>D41 To Review Building Sites Sept 12(posted 8/24)
>July 18 Board Highlights (posted 8/03)
>Letter from Board President John Vivoda regarding 2001 referendum (posted 7/14)
>June 27 Board Highlights(posted 6/29)
>June 6 Board Highlights(posted 6/14)
>District 41 to hold public meeting on possible building sites(posted 5/27)
>May 16 Board Meeting Highlights(posted 5/19)
>Portables approved for Lincoln(posted 4/25)
>April 18 Board Meeting Highlights(posted 4/20)
>D41 Sets Hearing For Portables April 11 (posted 3/30)
>March 21 Board meeting highlights(posted 3/23)
>February 28 Board Meeting News (posted 3/1)
>Portable hearing, Main St. report set for Feb. 28 (posted 2/23)
>Board addresses rumors about Facilities, Park District and Expenditures (posted 2/27)
>January 24 Board Meeting Highlights (posted 1/25/05)
>Board endorses Task Force recommendation; no referendum date set(posted 12/13)
>Financing Options Report (posted 12/3)
>Financial Planning Program (posted 12/3)
>Demographic Overview(posted 11/16)
>Facility Task Force Report(posted 11/15/04)
Board to set referendum date for new school (posted 1/11/07)
At its Jan. 8 meeting, the District 41 Board of Education (BOE) committed to building a new school to solve overcrowding. A referendum is required in order to provide funds to build a new school. The district could put a referendum question on the ballot as soon as the April 17, 2007 election. The next available date it could do so is in March 18, 2008. The BOE directed Superintendent Dr. Ann Riebock to provide a recommendation on which of these two dates to choose, and it plans to act on Dr. Riebock’s recommendation at its Jan. 22 meeting.
The BOE discussed factors to consider in setting the date of the referendum. While a concept plan for building a new fifth-sixth grade intermediate school connected to Hadley Junior High was presented to the public in November of 2005, is there sufficient time to educate the community on the rationale and value of this plan? What resources are needed to develop documents and renderings specific enough so that voters can make an informed decision? Should the BOE authorize expenditures for such planning prior to receiving voter approval? What is the impact of other questions that may appear on the ballot on those dates?
The BOE’s direction to the administration followed its discussion and acceptance of the Boundary Advisory Committee’s report, which recommended no change to current school boundaries and urged the BOE to make a facilities solution to overcrowded schools a top priority. The committee studied enrollment, projected growth, planned housing developments, program needs, facility use, transportation routes, and parent perspectives, and said that boundary adjustments could not make an improvement significant enough to justify disrupting families, especially since the overwhelming theme of community input was that no family wants to change schools. Some committee members felt that matters are so urgent that a boundary adjustment to relieve Abraham Lincoln and Churchill schools should still be pursued. The committee supported administrative actions to manage growth, such as establishing some sort of choice zone or assigning students from new developments to a school other than the one they would normally attend.
Currently, there are 588 students housed in 26 mobile classrooms, and projections show that another 235-362 students may enroll by 2013. Additional students may come from the north end of the district (Churchill and Forest Glen attendance areas), where more than 300 new housing units are either planned or under construction. The Boundary committee noted that there is no unused space at any school and all schools are experiencing infrastructure stress. Abraham Lincoln School has run out of room and kindergartners have begun having Physical Education in the classroom and the Boundary Committee predicted the space crunch will become urgent soon at Churchill. There is no viable land for more mobiles at either school due to floodplain issues.
“A referendum is one of the biggest challenges a community can tackle and requires unity of purpose, stamina, enthusiasm, sound planning, and a commitment to do what’s right for kids,” says Dr. Riebock. “This referendum has grown out of the facilities planning that began in 2003. Since that time, the district has studied numerous options, developed enrollment projections, and involved many staff and community members, who have worked hard to find a solution that meets our needs and would be acceptable to the community at large. The Boundary Advisory Committee’s serious and thorough work has brought increased urgency to this issue, and the BOE is taking the committee’s recommendation to heart.” Dr. Riebock will present the administrative recommendation to the BOE on at the regular meeting of Jan. 22
BOE on track for a facilities decision (posted 5/18/06)
The BOE has said it is committed to getting voter input on a bricks and mortar solution to overcrowding and enrollment growth, and is on course to make a decision by the end of August on whether to mount a November, 2006 referendum. The plan is to build a new school on the Hadley Junior High campus that would be connected to the existing building through core spaces. Grades 7 and 8 would move into the new space, and grades 5 and 6 would form a new intermediate school occupying the existing building, which would be renovated. This would mean adding one grade level to the campus and turning the elementary schools into K-4 schools. A construction manager will help create plans and cost estimates for a new building so that voters will have a clear picture of the proposal. The construction management firm will not be paid for this work unless the referendum succeeds.
HADLEY SELECTED AS SITE FOR POSSIBLE NEW SCHOOL (posted 12/2/05)
At its Nov 28 meeting, the Board of Education (BOE) moved to accept the administration's recommendation that Hadley be selected as the site for a new school. A referendum would be needed to construct the space, but the BOE did not decide whether-or when-to mount a referendum. It will discuss the viability of a March, 2006 referendum at its Dec. 19 meeting. The new space would alleviate crowding throughout the district, although it is possible some portables would remain in place. The district would also restructure its grade-level organization to K-4, 5-6 and 7-8. The decision takes Spalding, a vacant parcel in the northeast quadrant of the district, out of consideration as a possible building site for the project. The administrative facilities recommendation also included expanded curricular and co-curricular opportunities, and the BOE directed the administration to create a multi-year plan to begin implementing these changes starting immediately to the extent possible, regardless of whether a new school is built. Overall, the project is estimated to cost between $32-35 million, take three years to design and build and increase taxes on a house worth $600,000 by approximately $78 in the first year. The BOE reviewed construction costs and timelines and a possible financing option for the project, which involves an addition to Hadley to house a 7-8 junior high, converting the existing space to an intermediate 5-6 school, adding parking and bus lanes and renovating some existing aging and inefficient Hadley spaces. Representatives of FGM Architects, Turner Construction, PMA Financial and William Blair & Co. provided preliminary information regarding the proposed building project. Key points of the discussion were:
- A new building could be occupied as early as fall of 2009, assuming a successful March 2006 referendum.
- If the project is deferred, construction prices are likely to rise, especially given the instability of construction material costs due to the recent Gulf Coast hurricanes. Interest rates are currently low
- Preliminary figures show that if the district restructured its current debt, the .04 tax increase on a home worth $300,000 would be $38 more than current taxes and $78 more than current taxes on a home worth $600,000 in the first year. These estimates reflect blending $4 million in restructured current debt and $32 million of new debt taken on through bond sales for the project and paid back through 2024. Once the bonds are repaid, the tax increase goes away.
- Renovations at the elementary schools would not be part of this project, but could be funded over time as needed through the district's regular capital improvement process.
The BOE discussed the need to provide detailed and accurate cost information to taxpayers prior to a referendum. Elizabeth Hennessy of William Blair said the cost to an individual taxpayer over time cannot be stated with precision: while the dollars that D41 will need to levy in taxes to cover the debt will be a fixed amount, the cost to individual homeowners will vary according to individual property values and growth in total property value in the district. She said she would work with the assessor to see if trend lines could be developed to help homeowners understand the long-term cost. Restructuring the debt and spreading repayment over time means that long-term interest charges will add to the overall cost; however the debt is more affordable on a yearly basis. Also, said Hennessy, spreading the debt over time distributes the tax burden among those residents who will benefit over the life of the building. The BOE made no commitments regarding financing options.
At its Dec. 19 meeting, the BOE will discuss and possibly vote on a ballot question for a March, 2006 referendum. In January, the administration will present a preliminary framework for implementing program changes including expanded math, foreign language and co-curricular activities.
District 41 facilities recommendation set for Nov. 14 (posted 10/28/05)
With more than 500 students in 26 portable classrooms and enrollment expected to continue growing, Glen Ellyn School District 41 is significantly overcrowded. While portables provide needed classroom space, they do not relieve stress on programs and services nor do they relieve crowded libraries, gyms, lunchrooms, hallways and bathrooms. District administration will present a plan to solve overcrowding to the Board of Education on Monday, Nov. 14 p.m., 7:30 p.m. at Forest Glen School, 561 Elm St., Glen Ellyn. The Board will not take action that evening. At a future meeting it could endorse the recommendation, endorse it with changes, or reject it. The earliest it could take action would be at the regular BOE meeting of Nov. 28, 7: 30 p.m. at Central Services, 793 N. Main St.
The recommendation comes after a two-year planning process during which the district has held numerous public meetings, collected data from staff, students and community and studied various options. The recommendation will outline a building concept at one of two locations, either on the open space at the Hadley Junior High campus on Hawthorne Blvd. between Kenilworth and Glencoe, or the vacant Spalding site north of St. Charles Rd. on Park Blvd. between First and Second streets. Consistent with the Facilities Task Force of last year, the recommendation will include a curricular plan for a new program structure: four K-4 elementary schools, one 5-6 intermediate school, and one 7-8 junior high. Currently, the district has four K-5 elementary schools and one 6-8 junior high school. The recommendation will also address the neighborhood, community and district-wide impact as well as financial considerations. As part of the background work for the recommendation, traffic studies have been conducted at both the Hadley and Spalding sites and the 2004 comprehensive demographic study is being updated to provide the most accurate enrollment projections possible.
District 41 to hold public meeting on possible building sites (posted 5/27/05)
As part of its planning process to solve overcrowding in its five schools, Glen Ellyn School District 41 will hold a public meeting on possible building sites on Monday, June 13, 7:30 p.m. at Forest Glen School, 561 Elm St., Glen Ellyn. At this public meeting, D41 will review its facilities process so far and gather public input to help prioritize sites based on educational impact, community impact, feasibility and so forth. Last year, the Facilities Task Force recommended that the district build a new school, restructure its programs into a K-4, 5-6 and 7-8 model and renovate its existing schools to address inappropriate space use. Currently, the four elementary schools house grades K-5 and the junior high houses grades 6-8. The District 41 Board of Education has said it will decide in December whether to mount a building referendum.
The district currently has 12 portable classrooms deployed among its schools; in the Fall, it will have 26 portable classrooms housing between 500-600 students. A demographic study conducted in late 2004 projects enrollment to continue increasing through 2011. Portables help D41 maintain class sizes and preserve classroom space in the buildings for music and art. Other programs-social services, remedial, gifted, physical therapy and special education services-are provided in whatever space can be carved out in hallways, closets, libraries and lunchrooms. Even with the space relief portables provide, facilities remain strained: core areas like libraries and gyms are crowded and vehicular traffic overwhelms small sites meant to accommodate fewer students. The schools were never designed to accommodate the combination of classroom, small-group and individual instruction and services required to comply with state mandates and meet the needs of today's diverse student body. Click to the Demographic study and the Facilities Task Force recommendation. Other facility information can be found on this Facilities planning news page.
D41 Sets Hearing For Portables April 11 (posted 3/30)
To accommodate growing enrollment, Glen Ellyn School District 41 plans to add four portable units housing 14 classrooms next year. This will bring the number of portables across the district to eight units housing a total of 26 classrooms. A public hearing on the Abraham Lincoln Elementary School portable placement is set for April 11, 7:00 p.m., in the Board Room at Central Services, 793 N. Main St. to be followed by a Board of Education (BOE) special workshop meeting.
The Lincoln site has limited open space, and what exists is largely floodplain. Given this site challenge, D41’s goal is to accommodate students in an appropriate, safe and educationally sound environment while complying with village regulations and being sensitive to neighborhood concerns. On Feb. 28, D41 held a Public Hearing on the matter. At that hearing, the Village of Glen Ellyn rejected D41’s proposal to put the new portables next to the existing portable behind the school unless the district obtained zoning variations to allow grading, fill and a structure in the floodplain.
District 41 has submitted an alternate plan to the Village to place the portables on the west side of the site facing Newton Ave. This placement, which was reviewed by the Board of Education at its March 21 meeting, will be the subject of the April 11 public hearing. The district believes the placement complies with all Village setback and stormwater ordinances. The units will be landscaped and painted a color complementary to the school building. In addition, safety features will be installed to protect students as they travel between the units and the school.
Portables are fully furnished, carpeted, equipped with computers and telephones, air conditioned and include water coolers but no toilet facilities. Children enter the school building to use the restroom and library, for classes such as gym, music and art, and for services such as speech, physical therapy or other special programming. Student security is addressed with key cards, supervision, fences and camera surveillance, depending on the site and age of children in the portables. During high winds or severe weather, students are brought into the school according to an evacuation plan.
February 28 Board Meeting News (posted 3/1/05)
At the Feb. 28 Board of Education meeting, Superintendent
Dr. Jack Barshinger reported on two sites that the administration
and BOE have reviewed as possible solutions for its overcrowding,
the former Main St. School and the former Omni store site. Both
sites were evaluated against standards, including overall adequacy,
accessibility, traffic and parking, price and so forth.
Please
click here to see Dr. Barshinger’s presentation.
Main Street Building:
The former Main St. School is located at the southwest corner
of Main St. and Hill Ave in Glen Ellyn and has been owned for
more than 20 years by the Glen Ellyn Park District. In August,
a team of architects and engineers assessed the building for
possible conversion into classrooms. The team said the building
would yield a third of the needed classrooms, needs $4.3 million
in basic renovations and has numerous other deficiencies. Please
click here to read the report.
Former Omni Building:
The former Omni Store site is on the southwest corner of Bloomingdale
Rd. and North Ave. in Glendale Heights. In September, a team
of architects and engineers assessed the building for possible
conversion into a school. Soon after the evaluation was conducted,
the building was withdrawn from availability. Please
click here to read the report.
Residents Rob Herbold and Kurt Buchholz, a former park district
board member, presented a proposal they said was backed by the
Park District. They proposed demolishing the Park District's
Main Street facility, which, said Mr. Buchholz, "is old
and needs some serious bricks and mortar." The Park District
and District 41 would split the costs of a $13-14 million joint
park district/D41 facility that would house some of the district's
overflow. The project would mean no increase to Park District
taxes, said Mr. Buchholz. No details were provided. Dr. Barshinger
reiterated that D41 and the Park District are conducting ongoing
discussions about ways to collaborate to meet mutual needs.
More details on the Feb. 28 public hearing and the BOE meeting
can be found in Board Highlights for February 28.
Portable hearing, Main St. report set for Feb. 28 (posted 2/23/05)
Glen Ellyn District 41's Monday, Feb. 28 Board of Ed meeting will be preceded at 7:15 p.m. by a public hearing on the portable classrooms the district is proposing for the 2005-2006 school year. To accommodate growing enrollment, D41 plans to add four portable units housing 14 classrooms next year. This will bring the number of portables across the district to eight units housing a total of 26 classrooms. For more information on the hearing, read below.
The hearing will be followed by the regular BOE meeting, during which Dr. Jack Barshinger will report on the viability of using the Park District’s Main St. facility to accommodate the district’s increasing enrollment. Dr. Barshinger will review data on the building, including the engineering study the district conducted in August that showed that the building would cost $4.3 million to bring up to code and would yield 13 of the 35-40 needed classrooms. The public is invited to attend. Time is always set aside for public participation on agenda and non-agenda items. For more information on the Main St. site, read below.
Portable Hearing
To accommodate growing enrollment, Glen Ellyn School District 41 plans to add four portable units containing 14 classrooms next year. This will bring the number of portables across the district to eight units housing a total of 26 classrooms. As required, a public hearing on the matter is set for Feb. 28, 7:15 p.m., in the Board Room at Central Services, 793 N. Main St. to be followed by the regular Board of Education (BOE) meeting. The D41 Board has been discussing the idea of adding more portables for the 2005-2006 school year since November, and approved moving forward on Jan. 24. Site plans showing the proposed location are available at each building. The units will be deployed as follows:
Churchill: add one four-room unit in addition to the existing four-room unit.
Click for site plan
Franklin: add one four-room unit. Click for site plan
Forest Glen: add one two-room unit in addition to the existing two-room unit.
Click for site plan
Lincoln: add one four-room unit in addition to the existing two-room unit. Click for site plan
Hadley has one four-unit portable and is not slated for more at this time
Portables are fully furnished, carpeted, equipped with computers and telephones, air conditioned and include water coolers but no toilet facilities. Children enter the school building to use the restroom and library, for classes such as gym, music and art, and for services such as speech, physical therapy or other special programming. Student security is addressed with key cards, supervision, fences and camera surveillance, depending on the site and age of children in the portables. During high winds or severe weather, students are brought into the school according to an evacuation plan.
Currently, about 300 D41 students are housed in portables or at the Park District’s Main St. facility, and several hundred more students are projected to enroll in the future. Portables provide additional classroom space but do not alleviate crowded gyms, libraries, and parking lots, says Superintendent Dr. Jack Barshinger. With more students on campus, core areas as well as programs and services such as music, art and special education are further stressed. The district has been planning for its long-term space needs for more than 18 months, and a Task Force has said that portables are not desirable as a long-term solution and is recommending the district build a new school. The D41 Board of Education has deferred making any decisions on whether to pursue building a new school until after the April 5 election, in which four Board seats are on the ballot.
Click Here For More Information - (Portable Fact Sheet)
Report on Main Street Site
Superintendent Dr. Jack Barshinger will provide an overview of the Main St. site data that has been explored to date, including the engineering report assessing the building’s potential in alleviating overcrowded conditions in D41 schools. The Park District has owned the building for more than 20 years; it has not offered the building to the district, but this summer it allowed D41 to assess the structure’s potential. Engineers determined it would cost $4.3 million to bring the building up to school code (not including purchase/lease costs or asbestos abatement), and the building would yield perhaps 13 of the 35-40 needed classrooms. Other issues are:
- Deciding which kids would be in these 13 classrooms
- Determining the impact on boundaries and on the other schools
- How to efficiently provide space and staff for a full continuum of programs and services (library, gym, music, art, special ed, etc.) at the site
The information shows that using the Main St. building would be a costly and inadequate measure leaving students with unanswered needs and using resources that could be put toward a more comprehensive solution. D41 owns a portion of the land at Main St. (mostly parking lot), which it may be able to use, although it would not accommodate a building by itself. District 41 and the Glen Ellyn Park District continue to cooperate on areas of mutual concern. The Board has stressed that the District is always looking for ways to work with it's community partners and has urged anyone with ideas to share them at Board Meetings where they can be openly discussed on the record.
Board addresses rumors about facilities, park district and expenditures (posted 2/5/05)
At its Jan. 24 meeting, the Board of Education (BOE) responded to rumors that the Park District has offered use of its Main Street facility (a former school) to ease school crowding, and that the district has already authorized purchasing building plans for a new school. Both these rumors are false, said Superintendent Dr. Jack Barshinger, explaining that the Park District has made no offers to D41. Some time ago, the Park District allowed D41 engineering consultants to assess the building and they found that it could provide only 13 of the 30 needed classrooms. Also, it would cost $4.3 million to bring the building up to school code. The Board has not authorized paying for plans or specs, although it is beginning to interview architectural firms in case the district does decide to go to referendum to build a new school in the future. The Board stressed that no facility decisions will be made and no expenditures for architectural plans authorized until sometime after the BOE elections on April 5. It also discussed the district-wide WatchD.O.G.S. program and the status of grant funding.
To read more about these issues and other matters, please click on the link below for Board Highlights. The meeting was taped and was broadcast on Glen Ellyn Cable TV (GETV) channel 17 on Monday, Jan. 31, at 8 p.m.
Board of Education 1-24-05 Meeting Highlights
In other news, six candidates have filed to run for four open BOE seats in the April 5 election:
Incumbent John J. Vivoda, current BOE president, of Glen Ellyn
Incumbent John A. Ruckstaetter, of Glen Ellyn
John F. Snyder, of Glen Ellyn
John Kenwood, of Glen Ellyn
Terra Costa Howard, of Glen Ellyn
Kevin M. Costgrove, of Wheaton
The District 41 Vision: Exceptional Learning in a Respectful and Supportive Environment
Serving students from parts of Carol Stream, Glendale Heights, Glen Ellyn, Lombard and Wheaton
Board endorses Task Force recommendation; no referendum date set
(posted 12/13/04)
With steady enrollment growth projected, 300 students housed in portables or at the park district, and essential programs and services being delivered in hallways, closets and other inappropriate spaces, the D41 Board of Education has endorsed a three-point recommendation to provide a flexible, long-term solution to the twin issues of overcrowding and lack of appropriate program space:
1. Renovate existing schools to provide appropriate space for existing programs.
2. Build a new school to house growing enrollment.
3. Adopt a program model based on four K-4 elementary schools, one 5-6 school and one 7-8 school.
The plan comes after nearly two years of collaborative planning with the community during which many alternatives were examined. A Task Force focused on those options that had garnered the most support and was nearly unanimous in supporting this plan. It is estimated to cost $29.3 million, a figure that does not include any land acquisition costs. The BOE decided not to mount an April referendum, explaining that time is needed to develop a strong, specific plan that the public can confidently support.
The BOE approved creating Requests for Proposal for architectural services in preparation for a future referendum. The BOE said it will not vote on a referendum date until after the April 5 School Board election, which could bring as many as four new members to the Board.
MORE TEACHERS, PORTABLE CLASSROOMS FOR NEXT YEAR
To keep its commitment to maintaining current class sizes,
the Board approved hiring six additional teachers for next
year. At its January meeting, the BOE will be asked to approve
14 more portable classrooms for next year to accommodate growing
enrollment and special needs, bringing the total number of
portable classrooms to 26:
Churchill: add one four-room unit (in addition to the existing four-room unit); Franklin: add one four-room unit; Forest Glen: add one two-room unit (in addition to the existing two-room unit); Lincoln: add one four-room unit (in addition to the existing two-room unit).
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