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District 41 candidates debate full-day kindergarten facility options

When it comes to implementing full-day kindergarten in Glen Ellyn Elementary District 41, the seven candidates vying for three spots on the school board disagree on the best way to house the proposed program.

Although the current board has not yet decided to bring a full-day program to the district, three facility options have been discussed to potentially house it: constructing a new K-5 school; building an early learning center; and modifying the existing elementary schools.

District officials have said a referendum proposal would be necessary to fund any of the projects. Preliminary cost estimates indicate modifications to existing schools would cost from $14.9 million to $16.5 million; a new K-5 school would cost $26.9 million to $29.2 million; and an early learning center would cost $21.7 million to $23.6 million.

On Monday, the board voted to continue studying facilities solutions for a K-5 school and an early learning center. Going forward, Superintendent Paul Gordon said modifying the existing schools would come back on the table only if there is an overwhelming desire from the community to bring it back into the conversation.

The seven candidates running in the April 7 election are Kristin Massey, Kevin Rath, Stephanie Clark, Kurt Buchholz, Jeff Cooper, Lori Taylor and incumbent Erica Nelson.

Some of the candidates are strong supporters of implementing a full-day kindergarten program. Nelson, who has served on the board since 2007, said having the full-day option is a necessity.

"I believe that all-day kindergarten is not a nice-to-have at this point, but it really is a need-to-have to be a competitive community," she said.

Nelson said she would like to see an early learning center built to accommodate full-day kindergarten. She said the center, which could potentially sit on the site of the former Spalding School, would be a good neighbor to residents who have not had a school in their community for years. She said she also would like the opportunity to focus on early childhood education.

Like Nelson, Taylor prefers an early learning center. When it comes to busing kids to a new facility, Taylor said she would be more comfortable if kids the same age took the bus together.

She said an all-day kindergarten program would "help close the achievement gap for our children."

Massey, a supporter of all-day kindergarten, said a new elementary school is her ultimate preference.

"I like that community feel of having that neighborhood school," Massey said.

Other candidates said they aren't quite as convinced about the current facility options.

Rath, Clark and Buchholz are running as a slate. While Rath said he supports implementing a full-day program, Buchholz has said he does not know if he has been "sold" on the idea.

He said because some studies suggest the benefits of the program are not long-lasting, he is not sure if the money should be spent on a program that eventually levels off.

But Clark said she could see a full-day program helping at-risk students catch up.

"I think if you have the right structure in place and you have the kids that could benefit from it, it's not necessarily a bad thing even if they do level off by third grade," she said.

The three candidates released a statement saying the most economically viable solution to implement full-day kindergarten would be to modify the current schools.

However, Clark said Tuesday the slate is not sold on any of the facilities options presented by the district. They would also like more information regarding space use of the current schools and population trends.

"We have not seen any demographic study that supports the need to build a new school," according to the slate's statement. "We would like this information including time frame and estimated growth to the northern end of the district."

The slate also would like to reopen discussions with the park district to see if any of its existing buildings could be used.

Cooper said earlier this month he has yet to hear a compelling reason from the district to build a new school. Until then, he said he would support modifying the existing buildings to fit the program.

"As far as adding a program on, if that is the priority of the administration, I wouldn't have a problem with that," Cooper said.

"But the administration has had many priorities. As a business owner for 30 years, everything can't be the most important thing. You have to decide on your priorities and if full-day kindergarten is that top priority, then they need to go back on some of their other plans."

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