New preschool could cost $7.5 million; Elm Grove Park a proposed site

Posted at 7:29 pm October 20, 2015
By John Huotari 29 Comments

Shirley Raines Presentation to Oak Ridge City Council on Oct. 20, 2015

Shirley C. Raines, citizen representative and chair of a preschool planning committee, presents a report to Oak Ridge City Council and Board of Education members during a joint work session on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A new preschool for Oak Ridge Schools could cost $7.5 million, and Elm Grove Park in east Oak Ridge is among the sites where the new 20-classroom facility could be built, a planning committee said in a report released Tuesday.

A new preschool has been on the city’s wish list for years. The Joint City/Schools Preschool Planning Committee said the existing building on New York Avenue needs significant repairs, and renovations could cost about $7.5 million, or about as much as it would cost to construct a new facility.

The Preschool Planning Committee, which has nine members and three non-voting members, estimated that the new 40,000-square-foot facility could cost $6.3 million to build. There would be an additional $1.2 million in expenses for infrastructure, architects, and other fees, and an in-depth analysis by design and construction firms, pushing the total to $7.5 million, according to a summary presented by citizen representative and committee chair Shirley C. Raines during a joint Oak Ridge City Council and Board of Education work session on Tuesday.

Other sites considered by the committee included Pinewood Park in central Oak Ridge and the Ridge Greenhouse site in west Oak Ridge.

The Elm Grove Park site is a former school site, relatively flat, and has city-owned utilities, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said.

“This site is very good,” he said.

Next steps suggested in the report released Tuesday are a community review of Task Force findings and more questions for City Council and BOE members in November 2015 and consideration of resolutions in December. Construction could take 14 months and be complete by September 2017, according to the suggested timeline.

The City Council and BOE were discussing the report on Tuesday evening.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Elm Grove Park in east Oak Ridge has been proposed as a site for a new preschool, and it’s considered the best potential location. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

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Sam Hopwood

This should take top priority. The city can and must move quickly on this project. The Elm Grove site is perfect. Just DO IT!! If we can pave parking lots all over Jackson Square, surely we can do this. Maybe even add a Preschool splash pad.
- Joseph Lee
  
  Sam, Elm Grove is perfect.
  Thank you.
Jeanne Hicks Powers

Wow.. at an overall cost of 187.50/ square foot , this will be 1 absolutely amazing preschool!….. and the the masses will decide to move here for sure!
- Dave Smith
  
  Some thoughts:
  
  Government funded pre-K is attractive to a parent who can’t afford full-time daycare for her child.
  
  A significant percentage of the children in Oak Ridge who have been identified as those who would most benefit from pre-K are not enrolled. I would like to know the number of students enrolled at the ORPS who are not considered at-risk.
  
  The Vanderbilt study on the effectiveness of state-funded pre-K in Tennessee called into question whether pre-K is worth the cost. See
  http://www.marketplace.org/topics/education/study-questions-value-tennessee-preschool-program
  Since high-quality pre-K is significantly more expensive to operate than daycare, its long-term benefits for children should be unequivocal. I’ve seen no convincing evidence that is the case for ORS, but I’m open to any non-anecdotal evidence the Joint City/Schools Preschool Planning Committee or any other entity is willing to provide regarding results for at-risk Oak Ridge children.
  - Matt Bailey
    
    Dave, I didn’t attend the meeting, but I’m told that the lady who presented the case to the council is, I believe, the ex-President at Univ of Memphis, who was very familiar with the Vandy study, and apparently did an excellent job of discussing it. Perhaps someone could link that (those) comments. John, is that possible? I believe the study only discussed Memphis schools and apparently she is strongly in favor of this pre-K program.
    - Sam Hopwood
      
      The sky must be falling, Finally something we can agree on. Full speed ahead on this project.
      - Matt Bailey
        
        I checked with NASA. All is fine! 🙂
    - Dave Smith
      
      The cohort in the Vanderbilt study consisted of randomly selected at-risk preschoolers enrolled in state-funded pre-K programs across the entire state. If I remember correctly, there was an article in The Oak Ridger on the study that included reactions from officials in the Memphis school system. They want state-funded pre-K system-wide, regardless of its efficacy or lack thereof.
      It’s remarkable that many of the findings in the carefully crafted study surprised the researchers; they expected to prove their basic hypothesis–that pre-K was effective at giving disadvantaged preschoolers a boost that would persist through third grade. The data not only failed to support that hypothesis, it indicated that in some cases pre-K was detrimental to achievement.
      It could be that preschoolers need “instruction” that closely resembles playtime. If so, the state and ORS should consider putting money into high quality day care, which is potentially less expensive yet more effective at achieving the results we want for our children.
      - Raymond Charles Kircher
        
        The Memphis school system is no longer. The charter was revoked and city schools are now under Shelby County Schools. I don’t how following a defunct school system is going to work.
  - Jeanne Hicks Powers
    
    I agree with the value of PreK itself. I question the cost of a new preK building at 7.5 million.
    - Sam Hopwood
      
      You get what you pay for. There are no free lunch’s.
      - Matt Bailey
        
        Again, I think the presentation that was done outlined several existing buildings, including the new mall. With bathroom requirements, etc. the cost was more, I believe. Let’s hope that John can help us out to present the presentation. Or better yet, maybe the city themselves will put out her presentation!!
      - Jeanne Hicks Powers
        
        Not looking for a “free lunch”! Just questioning the cost of the physical plant itself. A preK is more than it’s building, of course. As a resident of OR, I’m certain I’m not the only one that thinks this projected cost is high. I realize it’s a starting point. Hope the cost can be significantly lowered.
      - Sam Hopwood
        
        A state of the art costs a little more, and if we are going to do it, let’s do it right. Word on the street is that CNS may chip in a few bucks. If so, good news. Let’s push on with this. Time’s a wasting!!
      - Jeanne Hicks Powers
        
        I agree with pushing on with a plan but a plan that is at an acceptable cost to the city of OR and its residents. We do not need to be “state of the art” to do it right. We just need to do it right at the right cost.
    - Dave Smith
      
      What do you consider to be the “value” of pre-K? How is our return on investment being demonstrated?
      - Jeanne Hicks Powers
        
        From work experience, I see the value every day.
Tracy Stout Powers

What’s wrong with the many empty buildings around town? The old Krogers, the old work out place on Emory Valley Rd., the shopping center where Lincoln’s was? The mall? Nothing else is happening there.

Just gut ’em and tada! A preschool!
- Philip W Nipper
  
  Not that easy Tracy. “Tada” as you put it really does not happen too much in the real world. The major benefit to building a new facility at the former Elm Grove Elementary School location is that the property is city owned. This is not the case with the locations you suggested. Not to mention the cost factors involved with adapting your suggested standing buildings to meet all the requirements, such as various structural, HVAC, plumbing and electrical changes which would be needed in order to support the needs of a preschool. I think the best and most logical choice is to build a new facility on city owned land. It would in fact become a full circle event as I believe the first Head Start program in the city started at Elm Grove Elementary.
  - Joseph Lee
    
    Mr. Nipper, well said, as usual. It will be interesting to hear from the negitrons as this topic devolves for them into another example of the end of days for Oak Ridge. I support moving forward with this project ASAP. Hold on, here we go. Thank you.
    - Philip W Nipper
      
      Yes sir Mr. Lee me too. I believe we have gained all we can from the current building. It has served the community well for many years as an elementary school and administration building as well as a preschool. Now however, its time to move on and embrace the future.
      - Joseph Lee
        
        Speaking of the future, it will be here in a minute. Thanks again.
  - Tracy Stout Powers
    
    Got it, thank you for your respectful response. I had completely forgotten that building was gone! Lol As for losing credibility points for suggesting a building that is no longer there, as Will stated, I disagree that my suggestion did that.
Kay Williamson

The Education Lottery fund has 3.5 billion available. Why on earth are the leadership of the county and Oak Ridge not securing the funding from the Lottery!! That is the very use the money is suppose to go for. Taxpayers should not have any burdens from this project.
- Will Smith
  
  Why? Because under TN Code Ann. 49-6-105, the lottery funds would be used for the operation of preK programs, not for capital projects like buildings.
  - Kay Williamson
    
    get that changed to add capital improvement. Laws are wrote and changed all the time.
    - Will Smith
      
      A second piece of reality is that there is only $25 million available per year for preK from lottery funds. It’s very unlikely that can or will be increased since lottery money is primarily dedicated to higher ed scholarships and now the Tennessee Promise program. I don’t think that the State would ever give some 30% of their annual funding to one preK project. Not to mention the precedent such a grant would set. It just won’t happen.
  - Kay Williamson
    
    thank you for telling me. I’m going to read up on it more.
Mike Mahathy

Because the lottery doesn’t pay for new buildings like this. How are things in Fayetteville?