The Oak Ridge Board of Education could vote on Monday, Feb. 27, 2017, on where to build a new preschool. Among the possible sites are the Scarboro Community Center on Carver Avenue in central Oak Ridge, pictured in the conceptual site plan above, and Elm Grove Park in east Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy Studio Four Design/City of Oak Ridge)
The Oak Ridge Board of Education could vote on Monday on where to build a new preschool.
Several sites have been considered. At one time, Elm Grove Park in east Oak Ridge was the preferred site. But there has been recent discussion of building the preschool at or near the Scarboro Community Center.
The school board will discuss the preschool sites during a non-voting work session at 8 a.m. Friday, February 24, in the conference room of the Robert J. Smallridge School Administration Building at 304 New York Avenue.
The board could then vote on a site during its regular meeting on Monday.
Elm Grove Park and Scarboro Community Center were both discussed at a joint work session between the Oak Ridge Board of Education and Oak Ridge City Council on Thursday, January 26. Conceptual site plans and public safety statistics were presented to the two boards. There has been opposition, including a petition, to building at Elm Grove Park.
Studio Four Design, which presented the conceptual site plans, was asked to come back with more information about the two sites—an “apples to apples†comparison—at the February 27 school board meeting. The additional information could include rough cost estimates.
After the school board votes Monday, the Oak Ridge City Council could take action during a March 13 meeting.
Financing for the preschool project, which would include bonds, could be included in the budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. A preschool has been on the city’s wish list for many years.
Plans call for the new preschool to have 20 rooms, and possibly allow for expansion.
The school board meeting starts at 6 p.m. Monday, February 27, in the School Administration Building at 304 New York Avenue. You can see the agenda here.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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