DECATUR — Immediate plans to construct a new Dennis School are now on hold, giving way to the prospect of a new American Dreamer STEM Academy .
“We're out of options for the west end,” said board Vice President Andrew Taylor said during a meeting Monday of the Decatur Public Schools' Finance Committee. “There's no magical parcel we can use. But I'm not willing to give up on a new Dennis School. It won't work for this opportunity.”
The "opportunity" in this case being the availability of federal COVID relief funds that could have been used to finance the project.
Instead, Taylor said, the board can look at the usual route when the district needs a new building – a referendum to pay for it. By going that route, the district would also have more time to look for another site in the west end.
The district has the remaining borrowing power to issue $30 million in bonds, said Mike Curry, chief financial officer.
Superintendent Rochelle Clark said the place to begin is a survey of the community to see if there is support for such a plan, and then a committee to make plans if there is support.
With a new Dennis off the table for now, talk turned to the issue of American Dreamer STEM Academy, whose renovations were put on hold in May after the costs of those renovations were revealed to be far higher than anticipated due to the cost of building materials.
Replacing the roof is already in the district budget, as all district buildings are on a rotating schedule for roof replacement. However, if the board decided to build a new American Dreamer within the two years left to use those COVID funds, replacing the roof on the existing building would not be necessary.
“The location is inconvenient,” said board member Regan Lewis, one of five school board members who attended the Finance Committee meeting. “When it was at French (now Dennis School's Mosaic campus at 520 W. Wood St.), families could walk. There's a huge issue of getting families to the site for family nights and parent-teacher conferences.”
One of the attractions of French Academy, as American Dreamer was known at that location, was the generations of families that had gone to school in that building who lived in the area. When the school moved, enrollment fell, Lewis said.
Seventh and eighth grade students have no lockers, which means they have to hang their things on hooks in a room used for passing periods, ceiling tiles are falling off in the gym, and the middle school students have only two bathrooms, one for boys and one for girls, each with two stalls. That makes it difficult for over 100 students to use them in a timely fashion, so teachers have to give bathroom passes during class time. The orchestra class meets on the stage in the gym while two physical education classes are underway at the same time.
“We thought we were doing the best thing for those kids (by moving the school to that location, formerly Enterprise School at 2115 N. Taylor Road),” Lewis said.
But that building is also old, and fixing the problems with it would only be “putting a finger in the dam,” she added.
“There are certain inherent problems with the building that we can't fix,” she said.
Board member Al Scheider said all of these things should have been considered prior to moving the school, and that the building should have been upgraded before the move. When Taylor said American Dreamer is also an old building and new construction would cost less in the long run, Scheider disagreed.
“Age is not the definition of a bad building,” he said.
Taylor suggested considering the former Oak Grove site for a new American Dreamer building. Oak Grove is closed and the building has been demolished, while Lewis said the grounds at the current location on North Taylor Road are extensive enough to build a new building there while students continue to use the existing building. That campus is also the site of the Ag Academy's Living Science Farm, but even considering that there is still space for construction of a new American Dreamer.
American Dreamer STEM Academy is a magnet school and draws students from throughout the district, so it can be located anywhere inside the district's boundaries.
In order to use CARES funds for a new American Dreamer, Curry said, the district would have to change the parameters of the application they used to get approval to build a new Dennis School and reapply and hope it will be approved in time. The deadline for that approval would be Sept. 30. The Illinois State Board of Education would make the decision.
“We have two weeks to have a pretty good idea (of our plans),” he said, to allow time to resubmit the application and get approval in order to move forward and still make that deadline.
Clark said she could get a tentative plan ready for the board's approval at its Aug. 23 meeting.
When Eisenhower and MacArthur students got great experience through internships.
John Reidy
The Decatur School District internship program debuted in 2015, with the idea for students to do real work and explore career areas. This year, 40 businesses offered to host interns. Students who apply for an internship choose where they'd like to work, and of the 40, 25 were chosen by the 46 students in the program.
When Holy Family students shaved their heads in solidarity.
Herald & Review File Photo
When fifth grader Adam Carter was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma and began chemotherapy, he decided to shave his head when his hair began falling out. He wasn't alone: One by one, a number of his friends followed suit.
When the ducks at Brush College School got some special attention.
Herald & Review File Photo
In 2007, two mother ducks were raising their flock of 24, and Principal Joe Smith took care of them. Smith arrived at school as early as 5 a.m. to put out food, clean up droppings and refill the two wading pools he bought for the ducks.
When a Durfee Magnet School teacher thought outside of the box for seating.
Herald & Review File Photo
Durfee Magnet School teacher Morgan Rufty received a grant to buy exercise balls for every child in her classroom to use instead of chairs. The balls delighted the kids, and research suggests that sitting on them could improve retention and concentration.
When Christmas came early for every child at French Academy.
Herald & Review File Photo
In December 2014, Principal Julie Fane organized her Facebook friends, Heartland Community Church and others to buy Christmas presents for all 294 students at the school. The kids didn't even know they'd provided wish lists through an innocent writing assignment: If you had $20, what would you spend it on?
When student volunteers pitched in to clean up neighborhoods.
Herald & Review File Photo
MacArthur, Eisenhower and St. Teresa high schools fanned out into neighborhoods to pick up trash as part of a 2016 cooperative event between Beautify Decatur and the city of Decatur. "I just feel like it's a way to get students involved who don't usually do stuff like this and get them out in the community, and it's a chance to clean up Decatur," said MacArthur High School junior Devin Fields.
When MacArthur students comforted children at Dove's domestic violence shelter.
Unsplash Photo
Students in the Jobs for America's Graduates program at MacArthur High School wanted to provide some comfort to those children at the Dove Inc. domestic violence shelter. They made soft fleece blankets and yarn octopus toys, and bought toy cars and packs of playing cards.
When St. Teresa physics students learned from Decatur police.
Jim Bowling
Students in Kimber Wilderman's physics class learned about accident reconstruction from Decatur police officers and Macon County prosecutors. They took measurements of vehicles and examined the damage, with guidance from the officers, to learn how those measurements help police determine speed and other factors after an accident.
When French Academy students helped their classmate play violin.
Jim Bowling
Takila Carr wanted to play the violin, but she couldn't grip with the thumb on her right hand, and her fingers wouldn't curl around the bow to brace it and control it. So her fourth-grade classmates at French Academy in Decatur decided to make a class project out of finding a way to help Takila play the violin.
When Dennis School students dreamed up ways to help a reptile friend.
Jim Bowling
Dennis School second-grade teacher Jim Dawson challenged students to design wheelchairs for Lt. Dan the turtle, who had to have two legs amputated. The children researched reptiles and their needs, studied human wheelchairs then each group made a prototype for Dan to try out.
These are just a few of the outstanding moments from Decatur public and private schools. For more great education stories, follow reporter Valerie Wells on Twitter at @modgirlreporter.
When Eisenhower and MacArthur students got great experience through internships.
John Reidy
The Decatur School District internship program debuted in 2015, with the idea for students to do real work and explore career areas. This year, 40 businesses offered to host interns. Students who apply for an internship choose where they'd like to work, and of the 40, 25 were chosen by the 46 students in the program.
When Holy Family students shaved their heads in solidarity.
Herald & Review File Photo
When fifth grader Adam Carter was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma and began chemotherapy, he decided to shave his head when his hair began falling out. He wasn't alone: One by one, a number of his friends followed suit.
When the ducks at Brush College School got some special attention.
Herald & Review File Photo
In 2007, two mother ducks were raising their flock of 24, and Principal Joe Smith took care of them. Smith arrived at school as early as 5 a.m. to put out food, clean up droppings and refill the two wading pools he bought for the ducks.
When a Durfee Magnet School teacher thought outside of the box for seating.
Herald & Review File Photo
Durfee Magnet School teacher Morgan Rufty received a grant to buy exercise balls for every child in her classroom to use instead of chairs. The balls delighted the kids, and research suggests that sitting on them could improve retention and concentration.
When Christmas came early for every child at French Academy.
Herald & Review File Photo
In December 2014, Principal Julie Fane organized her Facebook friends, Heartland Community Church and others to buy Christmas presents for all 294 students at the school. The kids didn't even know they'd provided wish lists through an innocent writing assignment: If you had $20, what would you spend it on?
When student volunteers pitched in to clean up neighborhoods.
Herald & Review File Photo
MacArthur, Eisenhower and St. Teresa high schools fanned out into neighborhoods to pick up trash as part of a 2016 cooperative event between Beautify Decatur and the city of Decatur. "I just feel like it's a way to get students involved who don't usually do stuff like this and get them out in the community, and it's a chance to clean up Decatur," said MacArthur High School junior Devin Fields.
When MacArthur students comforted children at Dove's domestic violence shelter.
Unsplash Photo
Students in the Jobs for America's Graduates program at MacArthur High School wanted to provide some comfort to those children at the Dove Inc. domestic violence shelter. They made soft fleece blankets and yarn octopus toys, and bought toy cars and packs of playing cards.
When St. Teresa physics students learned from Decatur police.
Jim Bowling
Students in Kimber Wilderman's physics class learned about accident reconstruction from Decatur police officers and Macon County prosecutors. They took measurements of vehicles and examined the damage, with guidance from the officers, to learn how those measurements help police determine speed and other factors after an accident.
When French Academy students helped their classmate play violin.
Jim Bowling
Takila Carr wanted to play the violin, but she couldn't grip with the thumb on her right hand, and her fingers wouldn't curl around the bow to brace it and control it. So her fourth-grade classmates at French Academy in Decatur decided to make a class project out of finding a way to help Takila play the violin.
When Dennis School students dreamed up ways to help a reptile friend.
Jim Bowling
Dennis School second-grade teacher Jim Dawson challenged students to design wheelchairs for Lt. Dan the turtle, who had to have two legs amputated. The children researched reptiles and their needs, studied human wheelchairs then each group made a prototype for Dan to try out.
Contact Valerie Wells at (217) 421-7982. Follow her on Twitter: @modgirlreporter
A new building for American Dreamer STEM Academy, using federal COVID relief funds, was discussed Monday during a meeting the the Decatur Public Schools' Finance Committee. It was tossed into the mix after efforts to find a location for a new Dennis School were unsuccessful.
School board members who attended the Decatur Public Schools' Finance Committee meeting cited numerous needed improvements at American Dreamer STEM Academy when suggesting it be replaced with a new building using federal COVID relief funds.