Decatur pre-K makes old facility new home

DECATUR — Over the past five years, the Decatur pre-K program has moved several times, into different classrooms, once to the old Decatur Elementary building and finally back to Decatur Northside Elementary. And, the program is on the move once again — this time to a new home.

The recent rise in the population in the city of Decatur has also increased the school population in all three of Decatur school system’s campuses. The greatest impact of this has been felt at Northside Elementary, which is located on the northwest side of town.

Now, Northside Elementary is running short of classrooms to accommodate the growth. So the Decatur School Board went into its problem resolution mode and found a solution that would put the growing pre-K program in a preexisting building that is located roughly halfway between the Northside and Middle/High School campuses.

In early January, the board approached the city of Decatur with the idea to use the old Headstart building located next to Decatur City Hall. This building has been vacant for seven years.

However, the building was used last year to administer free covid-19 vaccinations and it is also the location of Decatur’s polling place for elections. It has also been used to store supplies for the Pathways to Progress program.

During the Feb. 14 city council meeting in the conference room at Decatur’s city hall, Steve Watkins, school superintendent, along with school principals Toby Conrad, Cary Stamps and Devon Courtney, presented a plan to convert the old Headstart building into the Decatur pre-K facility.

The Decatur School Board discussed the terms of Decatur’s offer during its regular meeting on March 21 and voted to accept the city’s offer.

Likewise, the Decatur City Council, during the April 11 meeting, also discussed the school system’s use of the old building and it too voted to approve the school system’s use as the new pre-K site.

One of the terms of use in the contract is the use of the building as a polling place during election cycles. According to Watkins, the Pre-K school will be engaged in other activities, including possible field trips, during the three days the election commission has control of the pre-K building.

The building is currently undergoing restoration by Doug Holly, director of transportation and maintenance, and his team of multi-talented workers. The new pre-K school will be ready to receive students, faculty and staff by the start of the 2022-23 school year and possibly earlier.

Watkins sees the new pre-K facility as a positive sign of the future for both the Decatur School District and the city of Decatur itself.

“With the continued growth in Decatur, it became evident that we needed more space in our elementary school,” Watkins explained. “The partnership with the city to move the pre-K program to the former Head Start building was a great opportunity for the school and city to provide services for the residents of Decatur. I believe that the partnership strengthens the commitment of both the city council and school board to see Decatur grow and flourish.”