School will try to have day care center next year

A divided Sisters School Board Monday night authorized Superintendent Ted Thonstad to try to extend the life of a day care center at the middle school for one more year.

Although the current Little Outlaw Learning Center is expected to move out at the end of this school year, Thonstad said a couple of other potential operators have expressed interest in the middle school space.

Space was at the center of the board’s 40-minute debate. In one form or another, all five members expressed fear that the space now being used for day care might be needed for a regular classroom in 2006-07 because the district’s fifth grade is being moved to the middle school this fall. The purpose of that move is to relieve crowding at the elementary school.

For several months, however, Thonstad has maintained that the room probably will not be needed for a classroom for the first year or two after the fifth graders move. He has been interested in continuing to offer day care service, which is used by a number of teachers and other school staff members, for at least another year.

He told the board Monday that Middle School Principal Lora Nordquist and the school’s staff generally support that course of action.

Board Member Rob Corrigan said he was reluctant to approve day care continuation because of a high risk that the space will be needed for a classroom. He said the chance was at least 50-50 and maybe 70-30. He said he would support it for one year only.

Member Mike Gould said he personally opposed reserving the space for day care but would vote for it on the basis that the superintendent and principal of the school recommend it.

Chairman Jeff Smith and Vice Chairman Glen Lasken both spoke against the day care proposal, Lasken commenting that, “We’re in the business of running a school, not a day care center.”

Member Steve Rudinsky said little during the debate but indicated that he had communicated his thoughts on the issue to Thonstad via e-mail.

In the end, a motion authorizing Thonstad to try to line up a day care for one year was approved by the three newer members of the board – Corrigan, Gould and Rudinsky, all of whom were elected or appointed last year. The two veterans, Smith and Lasken, voted “No.” Presumably the superintendent will now talk to prospective operators and sign one up for next year. If no one is interested on the terms available, the day care room in the middle school will be included in remodeling scheduled this summer to prepare for the fifth grade and future enrollment growth.

The current Little Outlaw Learning Center was established in 2003-04 primarily to provide day care to the children of school employees. The school board was able to provide the space at low cost when the high school moved to its new building and the middle school moved into the former high school building. The center has been run by Sarina Henderson and is licensed and staffed to care for children under three, giving it an advantage over other child care operations in the area.

The school district last fall gave the center notice that it would have to move out this spring in anticipation of remodeling for the fifth grade, but then withdrew that notice and encouraged Henderson to stay for at least another year. She was unhappy with the way the issue was handled and ultimately said she would not continue in the school space next year and in fact would try to move out as soon as possible. The center is still operating in the middle school today, however.