Portable Hearing Set For February 28

To accommodate growing enrollment, Glen Ellyn School District 41 plans to add four portable units containing 14 classrooms next year. This will bring the number of portables across the district to eight units housing a total of 26 classrooms. As required, a public hearing on the matter is set for Feb. 28, 7:15 p.m., in the Board Room at Central Services, 793 N. Main St. to be followed by the regular Board of Education (BOE) meeting. The D41 Board has been discussing the idea of adding more portables for the 2005-2006 school year since November, and approved moving forward on Jan. 24. Site plans showing the proposed location are available at each building. The units will be deployed as follows:

Churchill: add one four-room unit in addition to the existing four-room unit. Click for site plan
Franklin: add one four-room unit. Click for site plan
Forest Glen: add one two-room unit in addition to the existing two-room unit. Click for site plan
Lincoln: add one four-room unit in addition to the existing two-room unit. Click for site plan
Hadley has one four-unit portable and is not slated for more at this time

Portables are fully furnished, carpeted, equipped with computers and telephones, air conditioned and include water coolers but no toilet facilities. Children enter the school building to use the restroom and library, for classes such as gym, music and art, and for services such as speech, physical therapy or other special programming. Student security is addressed with key cards, supervision, fences and camera surveillance, depending on the site and age of children in the portables. During high winds or severe weather, students are brought into the school according to an evacuation plan.

Currently, about 300 D41 students are housed in portables or at the Park District’s Main St. facility, and several hundred more students are projected to enroll by 2008. Portables provide additional classroom space but do not alleviate crowded gyms, libraries, and parking lots, says Superintendent Dr. Jack Barshinger. With more students on campus, core areas as well as programs and services such as music, art and special education are further stressed. The district has been planning for its long-term space needs for more than 18 months, and a Task Force has said that portables are not desirable as a long-term solution and is recommending the district build a new school. The D41 Board of Education has deferred making any decisions on whether to pursue building a new school until after the April 5 election, in which four Board seats are on the ballot.