Jun 30, 2023 / 01:31 PM CDT
Updated:
Jun 30, 2023 / 01:31 PM CDT
DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA) Decatur Public Schools is adjusting a plan it adopted for students at Dennis Lab School, intending to keep them all together when the school years starts.
On Tuesday, the Board of Education authorized renting up to 16 mobile, modular classrooms for Dennis students, who are unable to enter their school due to structural issues. The classrooms would be set up on the campus of Garfield Learning Academy, and would cost up to $2 million.
That price is nearly 10 times higher than the original plan of renting only six mobile classrooms. That plan would have Kindergarten through 6th grade students learn in the mobile classrooms while 7th and 8th graders would attend Stephen Decatur Middle School.
But parents pushed back against that proposal, going before the board and asking them not to break up the student body.
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My son and his classmates will never have three normal years at Dennis Lab School, one parent said. Dont let future classes have similar disruptions.
Students also spoke to the board, with one saying, We may not know whats in store for us in the future, but one thing I do know is we are Dennis and theres nothing that can change that.
The board unanimously decided to move forward with more mobile classrooms, which was met by applause.
Lets make the best of this and do the best we can for our kids, said Board President Bill Clevinger.
The long-term future of Dennis Lab School is still under evaluation. District staff members said that constructing an entirely new building would take more than a year or two, meaning students could be going to class in modular units for quite a while.
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