Schools

Lakeville School Board to Walk Through Site of Crystal Lake Elementary Today

The former elementary school may house the district's Early Childhood Family Education program.

Today the Board of Education will conduct a walkthrough of the former .

“It’s just to give the board a sense of what the building looks like now and then what it would look like with recommended changes and remodeling,” said Tony Massaros, director of administrative services for Lakeville Area Public Schools.

Crystal Lake Elementary at the end of the 2010-2011 school year as part of the $15.8 million in budget cuts announced in February. Shuttering the elementary school saves the district $750,000 annually.

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“It was something that was decided that we had to do,” said Massaros. “Now we’re turning that negative experience into a positive thing.”

The board has discussed the district’s Early Childhood Family Education program from its current leased space at Kenwood Center to the Crystal Lake building. Moving the program to Crystal Lake would save the district $500,000 in lease-related annual expenses. 

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The Crystal Lake building could be easily renovated to accommodate the program. Its internal walls are modifiable and the larger common areas have the ability to serve a wide range of purposes.

“One of the reasons why this building was selected is because of the ease of being able to modify it,” said Judy Keliher, chair of the Board of Education.

However, this plan has not been officially approved, nor has a vote date for the proposal been determined. There are no architectural plans for reconstruction at this time. The board expects to have a better idea of the relocation timeline after today’s walkthrough. 

The board hopes to finalize the decision to relocate the Early Childhood Family Education program in February. Ideally, the program will be in its new space by fall 2012.

Once the decision to relocate the Early Childhood Family Education program is finalized, the board will move forward with assessing which other school district programs will be located in the building’s remaining space.

The walkthrough is considered a worksession and will be held at 5 p.m. today.


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