Dist. 111 looking to move transition program out of Meadowview

KANKAKEE – Kankakee School District 111 has narrowed down its options for relocating the transition program for adult students with disabilities out of the Meadowview Center due to facility issues with the former Embrace Consignment Store location.

Two possibilities are currently on the table.

One option is to move the program into a pod of classrooms within the Avis Huff Student Support Services Center, which is home to the district’s alternative school.

The other option is to move it into a space in the Ice Valley Centre Ice Arena currently occupied by Kankakee Community College’s fitness center.

A special meeting is scheduled Thursday for the Kankakee School Board to tour both sites.

The board is set to meet at 5 p.m. at the main entrance of Ice Valley Centre, 1601 River Road, Kankakee, then meet at 5:45 p.m. at Avis Huff, 369 N. Fifth Ave., Kankakee.

Getting to Meadowview

The district’s transition program has an average of 20 to 30 students ages 18 to 22 and teaches life skills to promote independence as the students transition into adulthood, such as laundry, dishes and cooking.

It was moved to Meadowview starting in the 2023-24 school year.

The district previously paid $1,800 per month to rent a space in the First Presbyterian Church in downtown Kankakee, but concerns arose regarding safety and handicap accessibility in the church.

In August 2023, the board approved a five-year lease for 37-39 Meadowview Center, with a combined 18,720 square feet for the two adjoining properties. Rent was set at $8,500 per month with annual increases of 3%, meaning the district is paying more than $100,000 per year.

Decisions on the table

Alternatives to Meadowview were discussed during a March 27 finance committee meeting.

Harrison Neal, assistant superintendent of business services, said the cost of renovating the Meadowview site for what the program needs would be close to $2 million.

The lowest estimate was $1.6 million to $1.7 million.

“We started talking about this in the summer that our transition site at Meadowview is problematic for a variety of reasons,” Neal said. “Correcting those issues at Meadowview is cost prohibitive.”

As a former retail site, the space was not designed for student occupation or instruction. The district initially planned to install a kitchen and other spaces there to teach life skills.

But, a variety of work is needed to get the space up to code.

“There’s security updates that are needed. It needs an updated fire alarm system. It needs to have some materials [such as carpeting] removed and replaced,” Neal said. “Some of the spaces aren’t conducive to the activities that are going on.”

Neal said the district is weighing options for what to do with the space for the next three years it is on the lease, such as subletting it or using it for storage.

“The space was what it was,” he said. “I really don’t know if there’s any recourse to get out of [the lease].”

The district is also considering what to do with the T-shirt press that was brought in to help students learn job skills.

Neal said the machine is functional but has not been used. It might be able to be moved to the next site selected for the transition program.

KVPD space

The fitness center space is connected to the Ice Valley Centre Ice Arena, but it is locked off and has its own driveway, Neal said.

With KCC considering a move out of the site, the Kankakee Valley Park District inquired if District 111 would have an interest in renting it.

“We went and toured the site, and it would work,” Neal said. “It would certainly be more positive. There would be minimal things we would have to do to it to bring it in line with what we need.”

He said KCC and the KVPD have been in negotiations regarding the space.

“The sooner we can come up with a decision, the more likely we still have two options,” Neal said.

The main downside would be that the location is far away from the rest of the school district and from job sites where students work, such as the Classic Cinemas theater in Meadowview, the Kankakee Area YMCA and the Salvation Army.

The site has a large, open space, a classroom with storage, four offices, restrooms and locker rooms.

Rent would cost about $52,500 per year.

Neal said the district has plans to get rid of the mobile classrooms it is using at Kankakee High School, which cost about the same as the rent for the Ice Arena.

“The long and short of it, it would be expense neutral,” Neal said. “I do not hold hope we would be able to get out of the Meadowview lease.”

The space already has a laundry hookup, where the district could move in its own laundry machines.

“The big thing we would have to do would be install the kitchen space,” Neal said. “That would be relatively inexpensive. That’s mostly utilities.”

Avis Huff space

The space at Avis Huff is a classroom pod with five classrooms.

Three of the rooms are used by the Kankakee County State’s Attorney’s Office for its Justice Academy after-school program, and the other two are used for a food pantry and storage.

The transition program would require two of the classrooms.

One option would be to share the space, as the Justice Academy uses it in the evening, and the transition program operates during the day.

Another option would be for the Justice Academy to relocate elsewhere, so that the space would not have to be shared.

Superintendent Teresa Lance noted that Avis Huff is already staffed with three security guards, a social worker and a social-emotional learning coach. Special Education Director Carrie Clodi also works from the building.

“The number of altercations that have occurred at Avis pale in comparison to our other schools,” she said. “... If there was ever a concern, you’d have security that could just walk over into the pod.”

The costs for moving into Avis Huff would be considered minimal.

“We would still have to establish kitchen and laundry, so there might still be a little renovation cost with the Avis Huff option,” Neal said. “But we also wouldn’t have to worry about being fire-code compliant because it already is.”

Timeline

Neal said that if the Avis Huff site is selected, the district would move the transition program there for the start of next school year.

If the Ice Valley site is selected, the move would likely take place a couple of months into the school year, as the district wouldn’t have access to it until the current lease expires at the end of August.

“I’m open to either space at this point,” Neal said to the finance committee. “I’m saying both are viable. We can afford both, so it really is a choice now.”