Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Early Childhood Education topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
District presents three preschool expansion options; board asks finance committee to study costs and viability
Summary
Administration presented three options to expand preschool capacity to seven classrooms and serve up to about 140 students; construction and operating cost estimates ranged widely and the board asked the finance committee to evaluate financial viability before proceeding.
Flossmoor School District 161 administrators presented a detailed preschool expansion study Dec. 15 that examined three options to increase early-childhood capacity from the current half-day model to a mix of half- and full-day classrooms and larger early-childhood services.
District staff outlined three scenarios: splitting the program between Flossmoor Hills and Serena Hills using existing classrooms, renovating Normandy Villa to house a consolidated full-day program, or adding new classrooms at Flossmoor Hills. The administration emphasized that the grant-funded Preschool for All program currently covers curriculum and three teacher salaries but that many operating costs (additional staff, transportation, and some paraprofessional salaries) would fall to local funds.
Jackie Janicki, who presented the study, described the program models and enrollment projections: the district currently serves about 80 students in half-day sections (the grant is written for 110) and proposed expanding preschool-for-all enrollment to about 140 students plus increasing early-childhood special-education capacity to 30 students with a combined total of seven preschool classrooms. "We're looking to increase preschool for all enrollment to 140 students with half day and full day program options," Janicki said.
Administration gave rough construction and program cost estimates for the options: a Flossmoor Hills add-on estimate of roughly $4.5 million for three classrooms (plus multipurpose/kitchen and other site-specific costs), a Normandy Villa renovation estimated at about $300,000 per classroom plus other remediation costs (asbestos, intercom, secure entrance), and an option-bundle total that administration summarized in the meeting as being in the mid-to-high millions; the administration repeatedly cautioned the board these are rough estimates requiring architectural and structural investigation. Fran (district administration) noted that while construction might be financed, the annual operating cost would require about $1.5 million to $2 million more in the district operating budget year over year, an amount the district does not currently have available.
Board members asked for more detailed readiness and longitudinal data linking preschool participation to later achievement (AIMSweb/Iowa/NA), clarification about full-day kitchen/infrastructure requirements, and verification of grant offsets. Several trustees said the finance committee should explore funding options and viability before the board requests architectural design work. The board agreed to have the finance committee return with recommendations on financing and whether to narrow the options.
What happens next: Staff will request architectural/structural scopes of work and the finance committee will conduct a financial viability review; the board said it wants more precise site investigations and cost estimates before committing to a construction timeline or referendum.
