Published: August 28, 2008 11:38 am         

D118 sees enrollment drop 2 percent

DANVILLE — Danville District 118’s enrollment is down, according to early headcount data from the fifth day of the school year.

Overall, the district’s student population is down 2 percent, or 147 students, from what it was at the same time last year. The 2 percent decrease includes 39 preschoolers, 85 elementary school and 108 middle school students.

The school board reviewed these numbers at their meeting Wednesday.

Associate Superintendent Mark Denman and Superintendent Nanette Mellen said they’re still looking into the cause of the decline, which could reverse after Labor Day.

“It’s a bit of a concern,” Mellen said at the meeting. “We’ll continue to watch these numbers and keep you updated.”

Some of the in the enrollment decrease’s concentration is in the district’s southern half. Southwest Elementary School has 79 fewer students and South View Middle School has 83 fewer students.

Other schools also have decreasing populations so far, including North Ridge Middle School, which has 25 fewer students; East Park, which has 36 fewer students and Garfield Elementary School, which has 15 fewer students.

Danville High School gained seven students and Northeast Elementary Magnet School gained 27 students.

Walgreens building

Board members also heard from architects Anna Marie Burrell and Steve Pasko of Indianapolis-based Schmidt Associates.

Board members met in a special meeting last week to hear the architects’ renovation estimates on the old Walgreens Accounting property on Bowman Avenue, whose owner wants to donate it to the district.

If the district accepted the property and renovated it, it could serve as a new school building or interim site for another school undergoing repairs.

The firm estimates nearly $3.9 million in renovation costs, which include a roof replacement, mold remediation and new plumbing, electrical and heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

A brand new shell the same size and shape as the Bowman Avenue property would cost about $8.3 million to build, but it doesn’t include interior partitions for classrooms or other amenities for the facility.

The savings would exceed $4 million, however, the price doesn’t include property acquisition.

Board member Bill Dobbles asked the architects how the cost of demolishing the old structure would factor into the new figure.

Pasko told him the demolition would cost more because asbestos — which the architects would check for if the district accepts the property — and mold remediation would have to be done.

In other business, the board:

-- Approved the employments of Nuria Araguas, a Spanish teacher at East Park; Jordi Barea, a Spanish teacher at North Ridge and South View; Mark Butler, a dean at North Ridge; Borja Celorrio, a technology teacher at South View; Carmen Fernandez, an English as a second language teacher at DHS; Silvia Guajardo, a teacher at DHS; Lori Hensold, a coordinator at the Jackson Building; Carolyn Kirk, an attendance hearing officer at DHS; Deanna Martin, a teaching assistant at East Park; Molly North, a social worker at Edison and Liberty; Ellen Picher, a third-grade teacher at Liberty; Dawn Tuner, a secretary at South View; Reginald Vincent, a crossing guard at Garfield; Faith White, a teaching assistant East Park; and Donald Williams, a teach-ing assistant at DHS. The employment dates were effective at dates between Aug. 13 and 20.

-- Approved the resignation of Terry Colby, a teaching assistant at the Fair Oaks Communities for Youth Program and Marcus Forrest, a teaching assistant at Cannon.

-- Approved the retirement of Edison teacher Lyle Holycross, effective at the end of the school year and approved rescinding the retirement of Cannon teacher Stephanie Wiggam.

-- Approved the employment of Amy Eisenhauer and Cinnamon Long, secretaries at North Ridge, effective Aug. 27 and Aug. 29, respectively.

-- Approved a 30-cent per hour increase for food service kitchen managers and area supervisors.

-- Approved the Central Vermilion County Schools Co-op agreement, which allows county school districts to share educa-tional films. The fund balance in the budget by the end of the 2009 fiscal year is projected to be more than $25,000. The district serves as administrator for the district.

-- Board members heard from Business Director Shanae Hinkle that the district has received its first installment of property tax revenue, which is about $11 million.

She also told the board the state is on time in its funding through general state aid payments so far and that the overdue money from the last fiscal year has also been received.



COMING UP

The next regular meeting of the Danville District 118 board of education will be at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 10 in the Jackson Building, 516 N. Jackson St.