Batavia School District Seeks Feedback On Future Plans

Press release from Batavia Public School District 101:

Do you remember what your elementary school looked like? If you went to a BPS101 elementary school, it is likely that it looked very similar to what it looks like now. Your feedback is needed to help direct the future of our school facilities in Batavia. The Batavia Public School District has been engaging in a master facilities planning process for two years, and before final recommendations are made to the board, your feedback is needed.

From declining enrollment projections to building safety, over the past two years, a Core Team of community stakeholders has taken a deep dive into all eight school buildings in the Batavia Public School District. And now they need your help to make a final decision on how to move forward.

Community engagement and input play an important role in establishing a clear planning framework that reflects current community priorities. Most residents care deeply about the future of Batavia’s education system and appreciate the opportunity to offer feedback in the development of the plan. Community stakeholder feedback has been requested in each phase of the process, beginning with open house presentations in May of 2019. Staff members were also asked to assess their satisfaction with thermal and visual comfort as it relates to Indoor Environmental Quality, along with their instructional needs and how this might impact their learning spaces. Teachers also completed instructional activity logs and participated in Curriculum and Instruction workshops.

Not only are the spaces in need of functional evaluation, but the number of future students is on the decline, so space allocation is also part of the discussion. Lower birth rates in Kane County have led to declining student enrollment. Generally, more students move into the District each year than move out, but not enough to offset birth rate declines. These trends also factor into decisions made about the placement of schools within our community.

Please visit the Building our Future Together website at www.bps101.net/boft for additional information on the process, history, and options related to the project. After a review of the website, we ask that you complete the survey so that we can gather information on how you feel the District should proceed. The more information that is gathered from the community, the more informed the Core Team will be.

The Core Team will review the community feedback and finalize their recommendations to the Board of Education. Join the virtual community meeting on April 26th at 6:00 PM for more information. The Board of Education will review the plan at their May 25th meeting.

This press release was produced by Batavia Public School District 101. The views expressed here are the author’s own.