Glen Ellyn's Hadley Junior High may get portable classrooms

Glen Ellyn District 41 officials are looking to add portable classrooms to Hadley Junior High School for next school year.

One mobile classroom definitely is needed for a literacy program, but the school staff still is evaluating space needs. Officials said they expect a full report on the exact number portables at the December school board meeting as part of the district's capital improvement program for 2008.

Talk of mobile classrooms comes 10 months after a failed ballot question seeking voter approval for $40 million, mostly for a large addition at Hadley, 240 Hawthorne Blvd., that would have moved all the district's fifth-grade students there.

However, district officials said Monday, after a first look at a draft of proposed projects across the district, that the plan for more mobile classrooms is unrelated to a referendum. It is strictly program-related, board President Terra Costa Howard said.

The board won't consider the issue of another possible ballot question until after multiple district studies are completed. Those include analyses of various buildings' storm water systems, space use and security, board member John Kenwood said.

A 10-year master facilities plan also is in the works.

Elected officials hope to have the various studies completed by January to ensure any projects needing completion next summer can be tackled then, Howard said.

The board expects to vote on the bulk of the proposed capital plan, excluding the portable classrooms and the Hadley parking lot, at its Oct. 29 meeting so the district can start hiring contractors.

Other proposed projects in the plan include air-conditioning in certain locations at Lincoln Elementary School, Churchill Elementary School and Hadley; and replacement of electric-related equipment at Franklin Elementary School, Forest Glen Elementary School and Hadley. The projects carry a total estimated cost of $1.7 million for priority work with another $460,000 in potential additional options.

The district also is looking at a Benjamin Franklin parking lot and storm water project, estimated at $565,000, that's been in the works for more than a year. The board will consider it separately because of the cost-sharing potential with the village of Glen Ellyn.

Daily Herald Staff Writer Catherine Edman contributed to this report.