Kane Area School District directors voted Thursday night to
close the Mount Jewett Elementary School at the end of the 2006-07
school year.

The possibility of this has been talked about for approximately
a year.

Sandra Chlopecki, superintendent of schools in the Kane
district, said that all kindergarten and first grade students are
already in programs and classes at Chestnut Elementary School in
Kane.

“The only ones are 2, 3, 4, and 5; 6th grade goes to Kane Middle
School,” she said Friday.

There currently are 52 students attending Mount Jewett
Elementary School.

The closing of the school is the first phase of a school
consolidation plan that the Kane School Board adopted.

Chlopecki explained that the district is looking at a possible
addition or renovation at the middle school that will house
kindergarten through 8th grade classes.

She added that this is a tentative plan.

This plan would mean that the Chestnut Elementary school would
close eventually as well.

“The district has been looking at this for a number of years, at
least since the 1990s,” added Chlopecki. “We have not had a
renovation to the buildings since 1970, except in 1985 after the
tornado hit and those were repairs, not renovations. This is not a
simple plan.”

A second phase for the project includes a renovation and/or
expansion of the high school.

The cost of the first part of the school consolidation plan is
$17 million.

Chlopecki said they are in the process of meeting with
architects to discuss their options for renovations and changes
planned in the district.

In October of last year, the district had a consultant study the
possible reconfiguration of the schools in the district. The
proposal voted on Thursday is either the same as or similar to the
first option, which was presented then by Dr. Daniel E. Dancu,
president of Ingraham Dancu Associates from Butler.

The plan proposed in October mentions the closing of both
elementary schools, an addition to Kane Middle School and a
renovation and expansion at the high school.

That proposal also suggests that grades pre-kindergarten through
five would be in their own wing, while grades six through eight
would be in the other.

In the past, Chlopecki said reasons for the possibility of
closing any of the schools include declining enrollment, increasing
stringent state and federal mandates, aging buildings, increasing
utility and staff costs and Americans with Disabilities Acts
concerns.