Elmbrook Poised for Decision on 4K

During the contentious debate last fall on whether Elmbrook should close an elementary school, many parents argued the School Board had not done enough to raise revenues to avoid such a drastic step.

One way to raise revenues, they said: .

The School Board will discuss Tuesday — and might vote as soon as Jan. 24 — whether to add 4K next fall. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. at the district's administratrative offices, 13780 Hope St.

Within four years, a 4K program would add nearly $700,000 to more than $1 million annually to district coffers, money that could be used not only to fund 4K but other K-12 programs.

But the money would come largely from increased property taxes — about $70 to $100 more annually for the owner of a $300,000 home, according to a board memo for Tuesday's meeting.

Superintendent Matt Gibson said a 4K decision needs to be made by early February in order to give staff enough time to prepare the program at the same time they are redistricting Hillside resident students to Brookfield Elementary.

With some teaching positions being eliminated with the Hillside closure, staff needs to know if 4K teaching positions will be available before considering retirement.

Adding 4K has remained a popular request by district parents and real estate agents who say Elmbrook's lack of 4K is a deterrent for prospective home buyers with young children.

Gibson's memo says the board could consider adding 4K at all five elementary schools, at two schools (Burleigh and Dixon), or at one (Dixon). Parents and staff have preferred having 4K offered at all home schools to give students the best continuity, he said.

However, offering 4K at Dixon only is not feasible if it would require more than seven classrooms — more space than Dixon can offer.

Not knowing exactly how many 4K students would enroll, the district took the projected total 5K enrollment of 382 students and calculated the impacts if 70 percent or 100 percent that 5K figure enrolled in 4K.

• Offering 4K at all five schools would require eight to 12 classrooms with seven to 10 full-time equivalent teachers.

• Offering 4K at two schools would require seven to nine classrooms with six to 8.5 full-time equivalent teachers.

• Offering 4K at one school would require six to nine classrooms with six to 8.5 full-time equivalent teachers.

All scenerios would have 4K classes capped at 23 students.

Operating 4K at two schools rather than five would save one to 1.5 teachers but add transportation costs, either from the student's home to the 4K school or the student's home to the home school and then shuttle to the 4K school.

The net savings of offering 4K only at two schools would range from $10,000 to $90,000 a year.

"It appears that centralized delivery models don't provide substantial savings over the five-school delivery model, yet parent and staff voices to date prefer the five-school delivery model given the continuity that it provides to both students and families," Gibson wrote.

Elmbrook operated a pilot 4K program in 2005-'06 and 2006-'07 but then voted to discontinue it rather than create a permanent program that would have to offered to all four-year-old youth in the district. Last February the board , saying it wanted to first analyze the momentous state funding and collective bargaining changes being unveiled in the state Capitol and decide whether Elmbrook should close an elementary school.