Children’s Village West may relocate

By Sheena Dooley | Monday, October 06, 2008

Prompted by space constraints and safety concerns, Davenport school leaders will likely look to relocate Children’s Village West within the next several years.

The Davenport School District’s five-year lease at the former grocery store site, 2826 W. Locust St., is set to expire August 2009. Officials must give property owners notice by January if they intend to extend it another five years.

Administrators recommended to school board members Monday night during their committee of the whole meeting that district leaders negotiate to extend the lease another two to three years, providing them time to look at other options to house the early childhood programs located there.

Most likely, the district would either construct a new building or buy an existing one and renovate it, said Scott Martin, Davenport’s director of support services.

Children’s Village West serves about 260 of the 670 students in early childhood programs. The district pays $30,000 a month to rent the 30,000-square-foot space, which is stretched for additional room, officials said. Also, there are concerns with traffic problems in the front and back of the building, along with flooding issues on the playground, Martin said.

“Surely, we can find something better for that money,” said Patt Zamora, board president.

Several board members said they want to look at possibly spreading the programs’ classrooms throughout district schools that have extra space. It would not only save money but ease transportation issues for families who don’t live near an early childhood center, said Ken Krumwiede, board member.

Davenport runs early childhood programs in a handful of elementary schools, including Hayes, Buchanan, Monroe, Blue Grass and Truman.

“I hope we look hard before we talk about do we want to put them in different buildings,” said Larry Roberson, board member. “Sometimes we just need to let learning be about learning and not necessarily will it cost us another million dollars.”

Sheena Dooley can be contacted at (563) 383-2363 or sdooley@qctimes.com.