Dist. 220 OKs early learning center

After years of pleading for a new early-learning center in Barrington Area Unit District 220, parents and staff members finally got their wish.

School board members Tuesday approved plans to build a new $12 million early-learning center on district land next to Barrington Middle School Prairie Campus. The facility will replace Woodland School in Carpentersville as the program's home.

"This is the culmination of a lot of hard work," said board member Jeff Nordquist.

Board members said the district's due diligence made them confident building this facility was the best option.

"I cannot even count the number of options we looked at," Nordquist said.

The district has been working for years at replacing the 60-year-old school, which serves identifiably at-risk 3- to 5-year-olds.

Among the school's problems, Woodland doesn't comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, has bathrooms that aren't sized for preschoolers and has electrical issues.

Twice in the past two years, voters rejected plans to move the state-mandated program to the Health World Children's Museum in Barrington.

Board member Jeff Church said being able to build a new facility from scratch was a big positive for him.

"We are building a facility to suit (our needs), as opposed to retrofitting (another building)," Church said.

After waiting so long for this, the decision to move ahead with the project brought many parents and staff members, including Woodland Principal Barb Romano, to tears.

"This is all we needed," an overjoyed Romano said. "An environment to match the caliber of this district."

Board member Tim Hull was pleased parents kept coming to meetings to show their support.

"I really appreciate all of the concern and passion that the parents and community members have brought to this process," Hull said.

The goal is to have the new early-learning center opened by the start of the 2010-2011 school year.

Also on Tuesday, school board members approved the spending of $2.7 million for upgrades to Barrington Middle School Station Campus.

The work will include improvements to the guidance and multimedia centers, as well as the connection of new hallways to relieve some congestion.

Without being able to solve all of the school's needs, which could have cost as much as $17 million, board members said they felt this was at least a good start.

"We thought this was a fair way to make a difference for all the staff and students at Station," said board member Penny Kazmier.

Even with the work, Superintendent Tom Leonard said both middle schools will still be too crowded.

"This will make some impact," Leonard said. "But, this is not addressing the classrooms and there will still be some overcrowding."

The money for both projects will be paid for with $9 million from the district's reserve funds and nearly $6 million in general obligation bonds, which will be paid back over the next five years.