Preschool work waiting in wings after Hubble
The hot debate over new schools in Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 won't end when the uproar over what to do with Hubble Middle School is silent.
The debate about what to do with Jefferson Preschool Center already is simmering.
If voters fund the construction of a new Hubble, it may be only the first dip into their pocketbooks the district will seek.
Jefferson, 130 N. Hazelton Ave., would be the only school in the district that hasn't benefited from a major revamp in recent years.
There's already a consensus on the school board that Jefferson needs some work. In fact, board members Rosemary Swanson, Marie Slater and Andy Johnson all initially said they wanted to address overcrowding at Jefferson by making it part of the Hubble referendum.
District staff members killed that idea this week by saying there just isn't enough time to persuade voters to pay for a Jefferson construction project by February.
Assistant Superintendent for Special Services Linda Knicker told the school board that Jefferson's needs are worth individual consideration, but upgrades aren't an emergency right now.
"No child is being short-changed because of the facility," Knicker said. "No one is really feeling that the program is suffering at all."
That said, Superintendent Richard Drury promised a lengthy discussion on Jefferson.
"There's a lot to discuss about what to do and how much to do at Jefferson," he said.
Meanwhile, several ideas and cost estimates related to Jefferson have been floated out for discussion during the years of debate about Hubble.
They include:
• Combining Jefferson Preschool and the district's main offices into one building (possibly at the existing Hubble) and selling either one or both of their current homes.
• Combining Jefferson with the creation of an all-day kindergarten site.
• Renovating Jefferson at an estimated cost of $7.8 million.
• Renovating Jefferson and adding on 16,000 square feet at an estimated cost of nearly $13 million.
• Building a new and bigger Jefferson for an estimated cost of about $14.3 million.