RI-Milan school plan sparks discussion at hearing
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By Sheena Dooley | Thursday, September 27, 2007 |
Rock Island-Milan School District Superintendent Rick Loy gives a short presentation on the district’s $22 million building plan to eliminate three schools and build a new elementary school to concerned parents and residents during a meeting at Rock Island High School. (John Schultz/QUAD-CITY TIMES) Buy this Photo
Residents in Rock Island-Milan repeatedly told school district leaders Tuesday to slow down their plans to overhaul the district’s elementary and junior high schools, while questioning how the plan helps students.
Superintendent Rick Loy unveiled his $22 million plan last week, calling for the closure of Audubon Elementary School, Horace Mann Choice School and the Intermediate Academy. Under the proposal, the district would also build a new building to house a magnet school focused on math and science, while turning Longfellow Elementary School into a liberal arts lab school.
Parents, district staff, students and other community members had their first chance during a public forum held by the school board Tuesday night to respond to the plan. The meeting gave district officials the chance to answer residents’ questions and hear their input before the board votes on the plan next Tuesday.
More than 70 came to listen. Fifteen spoke.
They asked why leaders are focusing on buildings instead of ways to help the district’s poorest performing students, whether schools will bus displaced students who are shuffled to buildings further away from their homes, and why administrators want to build a new school when they are closing three others.
They also wanted to know how creating elementary schools that serve 400 to 550 children would benefit students.
“If it’s for the children, the children should be the top priority,” said Cheryl Hickman, whose child attends Eugene Field. “Building a new facility is not the answer. Focusing on the curriculum needs to be a top priority, and when we grow enrollment let’s look at a new building.”
Rock Island officials have spent more than a year looking at what to do with its antiquated elementary and junior high schools, which average 56 years in age. Enrollment in the district has dropped by 4,000 students in the last 30 years, leaving schools underutilized, according to administrators. The district has also lost state funding, which is based on the number of students it serves.
Under Loy’s plan, the district expects to save $600,000 in operating costs, which he has said he wants to funnel back into the remaining schools to boost academic programs and staffing.
Residents who spoke at the forum agreed but offered more specific advice to administrators and board members on how to spend the money. They want to see the district use it to buy textbooks, provide more outreach programs at schools and restore programs that have been cut in recent years.
“The debate and challenge is going to be what’s the best way to use that (money),” Loy said. “We are going to simply have to make our comprehensive list and then prioritize.”
Chuck Oestreich, a former teacher, was one of several in attendance who asked the board to take more time to flush out the details of the proposed plan. He asked to see more specific details on the changes planned for each school and how the district plans to implement them.
“I’m wondering if we have anything to go on here but crossed fingers,” added Stephen Klien, a parent who lives in the Audubon attendance area.
Steve Clark, board president, said the district has to continue on its planned schedule because it falls within the timeframe when officials can recall its current bonds and ask voters to extend them at their current rate for another 10 years. It is currently set to expire in 2017.
If board members approve the proposal they would ask the community to approve a referendum in February. Money raised through the measure would fund a portion of the plan. The rest would come from the district’s $22 million surplus. Loy has declined to comment on how much of the money would come from the surplus.
However, Mike Oberhaus, the district’s comptroller, said during the meeting money from the surplus would be used to purchase the Villa de Chantal property, which has a fair market value of $970,000, according to the Rock Island County Treasurer’s Office.
Oestreich questioned why the district wants to purchase new property and build a school instead of utilizing its existing property and buildings, which he deemed “adequate.”
“Our kids deserve the best,” said David Rockwell, board member. “Do not talk about adequate. We want better than that.”
Those in attendance questioned whether students would receive the best education possible when the district is looking at increasing the size of its elementary schools. Clark Howe, a Rock Island resident, said those numbers would make the district’s schools, on average, larger than any other district in the Quad-Cities.
Loy said with the increase schools would be considered mid-size. The district will be able to hire more full-time staff at those buildings because of their larger student numbers. Many of the district’s schools currently have part-time music teachers, counselors and nurses, among others, because of their small size, he said.
“In this process we may have stumbled a few times,” Rockwell said. “But the overall process has shown how special Rock Island really is.”
Sheena Dooley can be contacted at (563) 383-2363 or sdooley@qctimes.com.
Highlights of RI’s proposed plan
-- Close Audubon Elementary and put a significant addition onto Eugene Field Elementary, which would absorb a majority of the displaced Audubon students.
-- Close Horace Mann Choice School, replacing it with the district’s first new school in more than three decades. The new magnet school would focus on math and science and serve as many as 550 students. Administrators want to build it on the Chantal de Villa site, 2101 16th Ave., Rock Island, although they have yet to secure the property.
-- Merge the Primary and Intermediate Academies into one school dubbed “The Academy,” which would be located at the current Primary Academy building. Officials would expand the school to make room for the additional students.
-- Form a partnership with Augustana College to turn Longfellow Elementary into a lab school that equips teachers with the latest, most effective teaching strategies. Attendance boundaries for the school would shift slightly, moving from 30th Street to 26th Street and from 14th Avenue north.
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