Same Time, Different Place For LB School Start

Lake Bluff students in Kindergarten through fifth grade will not start the school school year in the Village's new elementary school due to construction delays that have consistently kept the project three weeks behind schedule. School will begin on Sept. 8 as planned, but Kindergarten through third grade classes will be held at East Elementary School, while classes for the fourth, fifth and multi-age grades will be held at Christ Church on Waukegan Road in Lake Forest, according to a press release issued by District 65.

Transportation decisions have not yet been made, spokeswoman Kathleen Reidy told GazeboNews. She said there will be no need to combine classes, since both East School and Christ Church have the capacity to house individual classrooms. She could not provide an estimated opening date for the new school, but said: "We want the students in there as soon as possible."

"This contingency plan was developed by the Board of Education in the spring of 2009 to be used in case the building was not ready for the start of the school year. Teachers and the administration planned accordingly at the end of the last school year to easily move into and instruct in temporary classroom space to make the transition as smooth as possible," the press release stated. 

Students in Lake Bluff Middle School will not be affected by the contingency plan. The construction schedule for the fine arts addition and infrastructure work in the existing building is on target.

GazeboNews will update this story as more information becomes available.

Comments

[Anonymous]

Is the school district paying for the space? Also, for the sake of the Public School District, all classrooms used at the church should be free of any religious information/symbols/posters. Public schools can neither foster religion nor preclude it. Our public schools must treat religion with fairness and respect and vigorously protect religious expression as well as the freedom of conscience of all other students -- and especially so when using church facilities for classrooms. In so doing our public schools reaffirm the First Amendment and enrich the lives of their students of all faiths & conscience.

[anonymous]

I agree with the above comment to a point.. but let's not forget that regardless of the district's payment agreement with the church, it is still a church. Those that worship there are graciously allowing the use of their facility and we should go about it with an attitude of awareness and respect.

[LBParent]

They should have thought about this before they sold West School.... why not rent that????

[Concerned taxpayer]

Regardless of how kind & generous an offer the church has made, these are PUBLIC school students who will be educated in a church that preaches a certain doctrine. Exposing ALL the students to that doctrine can be construed as unfair & a violation of one's Constitutional right, especially if there are students who do not hold those same beliefs. That's what the First Amendment states. Should this Constitutional right be violated, the district is vulnerable to law suits.

If the church is to be used as a PUBLIC educational facility, all classrooms, hallways, etc. used by the students need to be void of religious materials.

[district 65 parent and taxpayer]

Obviously our public school teachers are not going to be teaching any particular religious doctrine because of the building they are using. Just math and reading like always. If we were as concerned about vigorously protecting our children from the barrage of messages that they face from our everyday media in regard to drinking, smoking, sex, body image etc. as we are from chance posters or religious symbols in a building that they are temporarily using to learn their secular curriculum, then our youth would be much better off! The building nor its contents will rob our children of their freedom of conscious or beliefs. It's the teaching that matters. I am grateful to the district and the church for finding a solution.

[Anonymous]

Five very important words: Separation of church and state.

[Bruno]

Dist 65 repeatedly told us that the new Lake Bluff Elementary was on schedule and would open on time. From the outset many of us had suspected that this was little more than wishful thinking. Construction delays do not surprise me.

In fact, as recently as the last couple of weeks Dist 65 continued the mantra of opening “on time” in quotes they provided to the Lake Forester and in info they posted on the school website. Embarrassingly, the issue of Top Notch which arrived in my mailbox just yesterday said opening the new school on time “is the plan”.

Yet a few days before Top notch had even arrived Dist 65 had announced that the opening would be delayed and off site classroom space would be needed. Further, we are told that the late opening is “due to construction delays that have consistently kept the project three weeks behind schedule”. Which is the truth? Was the school on schedule and ready to open right on time as of just a week ago or was it consistently 3 weeks behind schedule?

Moving classes to Christ Church will throw a wrench in the schedules of those families who have children who walk to school. New bus schedules (and perhaps fees schedules) will need to be arranged. While it is indeed generous for a church to offer space to Dist 65 there can be no way that temporary space in a Church will provide our children with a learning environment they deserve. Hopefully the time spent in this temporary space will number in the days and not weeks…

Maybe Dist 65 can use the “$2 million” (opps $500K?) from the sale of West School of cover the costs of temporarily housing, busing and educating children at an alternate site. The latest Top Notch speaks of a new logo and enhanced graphics that will be added to the School website. Dist 65 should be far more concerned about accurate and timely information. Just tell us like it is.

[Another LB Parent]

I absolutely respect the opinions above who are concerned about holding public classes in a church's classroom.

I generally agree with "District 65 Parent and Taxpayer." Plus, I would bet that the children wouldn't recognize the issue if we don't make it one.

[Lake Bluff Parent]

Where is the letter sent home from the school district to all families informing us of this change in our children's school year? Or in the spirit of the green initiative, where was the automated phone call or e-mail? It is great there is a back up plan but as parents and taxpayers in the district it seems only respectful that a notice have been sent to Lake Bluff families. We shouldn't be first reading this information which affects our children's and family's lives in the GazeboNews or in the Lake Forester.

[Another District 65 Parent and Taxpayer]

Way to go District 65 Parent and Taxpayer!

[jmw]

My guess is we will all hear from the district when they have transportation and all the other fine details ironed out. No point in putting the cart before the horse.

[Anonymous]

What about Gorton Community Center or the LFHS West Campus facilities? It seems really strange that in a District that is SO careful to avoid any connection to a religious holiday (the biggest being Christmas) even when the overwhelming majority of students celebrate them, that they would choose to hold class in a church...and one of the furthest geographically. It's too bad when some of our youngest children have a "Winter Show" in the month of December and they are all dressed in black and there is NO mention of Christmas. I understand that in this day and age, Silent Night or Away in a Manger may not be politically correct, but no Jingle Bells or Frosty the Snowman??? They learn to play the Dreidel game in school but no Frosty? What gives?

[BG]

It is pathetic that the LB citizens are more concerned about whether teachers will be voiding the students of religious materials that may be layed out in the hallways than the real issue - poor planning by the general contractor who was awarded the contract for construction. A penalty & payback to the tax payers should be imposed for the delay.

[Anon]

BG has it right I think...the conversation should be more focused on holding those responsible accountable for the failure to achieve the goal of completing the work "on time and on budget" - who even knows the status of the latter. Perhaps cost overruns will be surprise #3. Surprise #1 being the job isn't finished and the kids will face another year of construction related chaos. Surprise #2, yet to be fully revealed to any who weren't part of the planning process, is that the new school will not come close to fulfilling what was advertised by the board or the administration. Is in it any wonder that David Vick chose to retire 2-3 months BEFORE the project was finished??

[yet another LB Parent]

Is it true that the new school has one gym around the size of Central's gym, now to share with twice the number of students? And that the library is not much larger than Central's, but will have twice as many kids? And there is no art classroom for K-2 anymore? Did we shortchange our students to get marginally larger classrooms, for $20 million? I don't get it.