Franklin school officials are considering renovating two of the district’s buildings and discussing the potential closing of Alexander Elementary School.
Superintendent Andy Stremlau said Thursday that a decision has not been made. He said the board is looking at renovation costs, as well as the possibility of closing the Alexander building and housing students within the district’s other schools.
The Alexander school was built in 1917 and has several issues. It houses about 90 students in grades two to five.
“We’re not at a definitive closing point on that,” Stremlau said. “We’ve had discussions. We are looking if it is feasible to consolidate three buildings into two.”
One option could be to use Franklin East Grade School for pre-kindergarten to second grade and Franklin Junior-Senior High School for grades three through high school.
“We’ve been looking at that for a year and a half and weighing our options to see what we can do to improve the other two buildings,” Stremlau said. “At that time, if or when we close Alexander, we have to look at what would be the best schematic building plans for the district.”
Stremlau said the district has had feasibility studies and had a 10-year health, life and safety study on each building done in 2015. To make the Alexander building compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act would cost the district $250,000 — without addressing other needs for the aging building.
The district has spent $350,000 during the past five years on maintenance for Alexander alone.
Stremlau said the board is looking at its finances to see what it could afford. With funds from a one-cent sales tax, the school district could have a bonding potential of $2.8 million, but that likely would not be enough for renovation of the two buildings.
Uncertainty of money from the state is also a consideration. By consolidating the schools and focusing on long-term renovations, Stremlau said the district could be better prepared for what happens to those funds in the future.
“No one is on a mission to close Alexander,” he said. “We have to look at things and build toward the future. With Illinois’s continual financial issues, it is hard to look beyond 10 years. If that time comes, I’d hate for Franklin to lose a school and the community to not have any school. We figure that the best and more efficient we can make at least one or two of our buildings, we can hopefully maintain some viability down the road.”
The board will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday in the high school to discuss the potential renovations for Franklin East Grade School and Franklin Junior-Senior High School. Stremlau said if the board decides to move forward, it could enter into a contract with GRP Performance Contractors as early as this month.
“We are getting close to either entering into a performance contract and change the landscape of the district next year, or it could possibly start with Alexander not being affected until a year later,” Stremlau said.
