One of the major issues facing the Warsaw R-9 Board of Education is securing a place for preschoolers at both North and South Elementary Schools. Presently, preschoolers are all bussed to South Elementary because of the increase of students at North Elementary. The need for more classrooms has prompted the Board of Education to ask voters to approve Proposition KIDS on April 2. The bond issue will not increase the tax rate but will give the district an $18,000,000 general bond to construct, remodel, upgrade and repair existing buildings.
Presently, some of the preschool classrooms are located in trailers at South Elementary. Kristy Henderson and Lucy Bell each have a classroom of 20 four-year-olds while several other preschool teachers work with an additional 15 preschool/ECSE students in separate classrooms.
“Preschool has been housed at South for several years now. We currently have six classes that serve both regular and special needs students,” said Henderson. “Many of our students have to catch a bus in town and be transported out to South Elementary because of the lack of available classrooms at North. Even South lacks the classroom space needed for all six classrooms and has a trailer that is required to house two of the classes. None of this is ideal. We have our youngest and most vulnerable students traveling long distances and some of students housed in our Early Childhood trailer have special needs and have to move in and out of the building.”
In order to free up classrooms at both elementary schools, the Warsaw Board of Education is proposing to build a fifth-grade wing at John Boise Middle School.
The fifth graders will have a playground and will be in limited contact with the seventh and eighth grade students.
“It also makes it hard for parents who have kids in both elementaries. Passage of the bond issue would allow for additional classrooms to be built at the middle school complex, which would then free up classroom space at both schools. If the bond is passed, our hope would be to have preschool at both buildings, serving both regular and special needs students at both locations,” said Henderson.
Another pre-school teacher, Lucy Bell, commented that both elementary schools are full.
“Our elementary schools are bursting at the seams,” said Bell. “We really don’t have room for any more students.”
Bell also commented that the increase in students started with the pandemic and more people moving to the area because they could work remotely at the lake and send their children to a smaller school than what they had in the city.
“Part of our teaching is to introduce to our students to the joy of learning,” said Bell. “Preschool isn’t a requirement; however, we are teaching a great deal of what kindergarten used to teach.”
Bell commented that preschool also helps to identify problems students might have with hearing and speech.
“With early intervention we can help students succeed as they continue their education,” said Bell.
The Warsaw R-9 District added preschool to the curriculum in 1981. Superintendent Dr. John Boise had attended a national conference where he heard about the program for four-year-olds and presented the idea to the Warsaw Board of Education. They approved it and Warsaw became the first school in the state to get Title 1 funding to start a preschool program. The program began as a ½ day program and then expanded to a full day in 2019.
“The preschool program leads to success in the child’s future education,” said Boise. “I believe that Mr. Gemes and the Board have considered the need for improvements and have come up with a proposition that is reasonable and much needed."
Placing preschool classes at both North and South Elementaries would also save the district money since there wouldn’t be a need to transport preschool students from North to South twice a day. Buses presently pick up preschoolers at the library in Warsaw and then take them to South for the day and bring them back in the afternoon. Warsaw R-9 Superintendent Scott Gemes said that preschoolers can’t ride the bus with the rest of the school population because of laws requiring four-year-olds to be in special seats.
“We don’t have room for the kind of seating needed for four-year-olds in buses on our regular routes,” said Gemes. “We try to accommodate parents by running a bus from Warsaw to South and back again every day.”
Anyone with additional questions about the bond issue should contact Mr. Gemes at the Warsaw R-9 central office at (660) 438-7120.
