Davenport Elementary begins final month of operations
Superintendent: D-424 to consider selling building
By DREW ZIMMERMAN - dzimmerman@shawmedia.com
Matthew Apgar / Daily Chronicle
Matthew Apgar - mapgar@shawmedia.com
The main entrance at Davenport Elementary School is closed while school is in session on Monday, May 01, 2017 in Genoa. The school is in its final month of operations before closing and will not reopen next school year. The school district will be restructured so that Davenport's early childhood through first grade classes will be shifted to Kingston Elementary School, which currently teaches second and third grades. Kingston Elementary School will teach early childhood through second grades, with its third grade classes moving to Genoa Elementary School, which is currently teaching fourth and fifth grade classes. District 424 superintendent Joe Burgess has said that the district intends on selling the Davenport Elementary School building.
Matthew Apgar / Daily Chronicle
Matthew Apgar - mapgar@shawmedia.com
A wooden sign stands outside of Davenport Elementary School on Monday, May 01, 2017 in Genoa. The school is in its final month of operations before closing and will not reopen next school year. The school district will be restructured so that Davenport's early childhood through first grade classes will be shifted to Kingston Elementary School, which currently teaches second and third grades. Kingston Elementary School will teach early childhood through second grades, with its third grade classes moving to Genoa Elementary School, which is currently teaching fourth and fifth grade classes. District 424 superintendent Joe Burgess has said that the district intends on selling the Davenport Elementary School building.
Matthew Apgar / Daily Chronicle
Matthew Apgar - mapgar@shawmedia.com
The Davenport Elementary School name hangs over the main entrance on Monday, May 01, 2017 in Genoa. The school is in its final month of operations before closing and will not reopen next school year. The school district will be restructured so that Davenport's early childhood through first grade classes will be shifted to Kingston Elementary School, which currently teaches second and third grades. Kingston Elementary School will teach early childhood through second grades, with its third grade classes moving to Genoa Elementary School, which is currently teaching fourth and fifth grade classes. District 424 superintendent Joe Burgess has said that the district intends on selling the Davenport Elementary School building.
GENOA – Teachers and students at Davenport Elementary School will find themselves at a new school building next year, and Genoa-Kingston School District 424 officials are considering what to do with the property.
Davenport, one of five buildings in District 424, will close at the end of this school year, and students and staff will move into the district's other two elementary schools.
In October, board members approved closing the building at 123 W. First St., a couple of blocks north of downtown Genoa. The closure will reduce salary and utility costs by about $300,000 a year, district Superintendent Joe Burgess said. That number is based on of the average operating costs of all three elementary schools.
Davenport’s early childhood through second-grade students will shift to Kingston Elementary School, which currently houses second- and third-graders. Genoa Elementary School will take the third-graders, while also housing fourth- and fifth-grade students.
Burgess said the shuffling is the result of declining enrollment in the district. It should not require additional classrooms and will not increase class sizes, he said.
“Ten years ago, class sizes were around the 150 to 175 mark, and now 100 or so is a normal-sized group," he said. "So we don’t need as many classrooms.”
Burgess said district officials are considering selling the property, and further plans will be discussed during upcoming board meetings.
The building's closure had been proposed previously as a way to address declining enrollment trends and budget problems. Other proposals have included closing the elementary and middle schools to build an academic center for kindergarten through eighth grade, or to do nothing and address budget deficits through staff, program and maintenance cuts.
Burgess said the consolidation plans are expected to be completed by the end of June.
