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News
Churchill Elementary School in line for addition : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisChurchill Elementary School in line for addition
| Pending decision on full day kindergarten will affect planning, board told Proposed Churchill Elementary addition work outlined
| by Lyle R. Rolfe
| 12/31/2009
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Churchill Elementary School at 520 Secretariat Lane, Oswego, is in line for an addition to help keep up with rising enrollment in the Oswego School District.
Doug Gallois, executive director of construction services for the school district, said there are various unknowns at this time because the project will be directly related to the district's decision on how the full-day kindergarten program will be decided. But whatever happens, it will have a direct impact on the Churchill addition, he said.
He outlined a time schedule but noted that other details including a cost estimate won't be determined for some time.
Gallois said they hope to have enough information to begin work on the expansion plan in February or March.
School superintendent Dr. Daniel O'Donnell said Cathi Mundsinger, director of secondary teaching and learning, will present the various full-day kindergarten options to board members at a meeting next month.
Gallois said they could have the design and budget ready for the board in April, have construction documents done and ready for bidding in July and award bids in August. He would like to begin construction in September 2010 and be completed by Aug. 1, 2011 in time for the 2011-12 school year, he added.
He said two options are being considered for the full-day kindergarten program, both of which would affect Churchill. One is to have three elementary schools serve as full-day kindergarten centers and the other is for each elementary school to have a full-day program in addition to their present half-day program for their own students. That option would eliminate the need to bus students from their home schools to and from Southbury Elementary School at 820 Preston Lane, Oswego, where the district's only full-day kindergarten currently meets.
If three centers are built, there would have to be some boundary changes which would eventually affect Churchill, he said. And if the full day kindergarten program were brought into each school, it also would mean additional space would be needed for the students who would be spending full rather than half days here.
More space needed at Churchill: Colvin
"Churchill is still growing and even if East View is brought back on line as an elementary school, it will still be tight for Churchill," Todd Colvin, associate superintendent for administrative services warned board members. "More space will eventually be needed here."
He said special programs are now limited at Churchill because of space and have been moved to Grande Park Elementary School, 26933 Grande Park Boulevard, Plainfield, where space was available.
Board Member Mike Scaramuzzi asked if there would be problems doing so much construction work during the months while school is in session.
"It will depend on how many rooms we need, which will be determined by what happens with the kindergarten classes," Gallois said. "We may be able to put eight rooms in four corners on the first and second floors with a minimum of disruption. But we'll have to check with the architects on this."
If they can't do the addition that way, the only other option is to expand to the rear of the building where the Community Room is now located, Gallois added. But that would give them space for only six rooms, he said.
Also, if the district adds on to Churchill, they most likely will have to relocate the cafeteria behind the kitchen, so the present cafeteria can be used to give them space for a full physical education facility, he said.
Scaramuzzi suggested it would be good if they could come up with an expansion plan that could be adapted to any other elementary school where they would need an addition. He said this would save them the time and expense of starting at square one for each project.
"I don't want this (Churchill) plan to be so specific that it can't be used elsewhere. This way we don't have to spend money for the same work twice," he said.
Gallois said they have several schools of the same design where this could be applied.
The funds for Churchill's expansion would come from the $450 million general obligation bond issue approved by voters in November 2006.
Gallois said he will ask the board at their Feb. 8 meeting to grant his request to plan and design the addition with help from the staff. If approved, he said the design and budget could be ready for approval at the April 5 board meeting.
Construction documents could be completed by July 15 and ready for review by district officials by July 21, he said, adding that he would like to be ready to seek bids on July 23 and have them ready for review on Aug. 12 so they could be awarded at the Aug. 23 board meeting.
If those dates are met, Gallois said the district could start construction in September 2010 with a completion date of July 15, 2011 so they could be ready for students by Aug. 21, 2011.
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