The Hillsboro R-3 School District will start its very own early childhood center, with plans to open it in time for the 2025-2026 school year.
The Board of Education voted unanimously Dec. 21 to proceed with plans to open the center in the Primary School building. The district’s Early Learning Committee had recommended the plan.
To make the center a possibility, the board also voted unanimously to purchase the building that formerly housed the Logo Daddys graphics and screen printing shop at 144 N. Seventh St. in Hillsboro, directly across the street from Hillsboro Intermediate School and the district’s Ridge alternative school.
The board agreed to pay $830,000 in cash for the property, which includes the 9,000-square-foot building and two outbuildings.
The district is set to close on the purchase of the .61-acre site from J. Gibbs Enterprises on Jan. 22, Superintendent Jon Isaacson said.
Plans call for the alternative school to move into the Logo Daddys building, which was a lumber yard and hardware store when it was built in 1970.
To accommodate the early childhood center at the Primary School, second grade classes will move to the Elementary School, and fourth graders will be moved to the Intermediate School, with those shifts beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, district officials reported.
Isaacson said the acquisition of the Logo Daddys site made the long-term goal of opening a preschool center possible.
“An early childhood center has been a key element in four five-year strategic plans,” he said. “Our residents have stressed their desire to have our own center, and it was our goal to have one by 2028, if not sooner. The issues always have been where to put it and how to pay for it.
“To build a new building in this market costs $300 to $400 per square foot, so the building we’re buying would cost as much as $3.6 million to build,” he said.
“When all is said and done, this was the only way to move toward our goal of an early childhood center without a tax increase,” Isaacson said, “because any new construction would mean putting a tax increase on the ballot.”
While locating the preschool center at the Logo Daddys building was an option, that would have meant more extensive renovations, including adding bathrooms that can accommodate small children and adding another director, building secretaries, a nurse and custodial staff, Isaacson said.
That won’t be an issue at the Primary School, which also already has a playground, he said.
Cost estimates to make improvements to the new building to meet the needs of the alternative school range from $524,000 to $1,093,550, according to Steven Bacon of Bacon Commercial Design LLC in Crystal City.
Bacon told the board that the higher number is “the absolute high end” and that the lower figure was more likely to be the final cost.
The work will include adding walls, cabinets and counters; installing drop ceilings; remodeling three restrooms to meet federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards; adding a fourth restroom; reinforcing floor joists to handle traffic in corridor areas; and possibly upgrading the heating, air conditioning and ventilation system.
One of the outbuildings will be used for wood shop classes and the other would be used for storage, Isaacson said.
He stressed that the funds to buy the building and have all the improvement completed will be drawn from the district’s capital reserve fund, which is devoted to large-scale projects.
Isaacson said the fund’s balance is about $5.5 million.
“We will be able to respond to our residents’ desire to start an early childhood center without asking for a tax increase,” he said. “We have the lowest tax rate (among school districts) in Jefferson County. We’re very excited about this.”
When the Logo Daddy’s property was listed for sale in January 2023 at $1.2 million, the district’s administration didn’t give much thought about buying it, despite its proximity, Isaacson said.
However, as the asking price went down, making an offer for the site became possible, he added.
According to an appraisal, the Logo Daddy site’s market value is $850,000.
“This was the perfect opportunity,” Isaacson said. “We’re adding a building right next to our campus at below their asking price and below the appraised value. We’ll be able to get high school students (in the alternative school) out of the Intermediate School. There will be no need to ask voters for a tax increase because we have the cash to pay for everything. And we will be starting an early childhood center much earlier than anyone could have anticipated.”
Details about the early childhood center, including curriculum, ages accepted and other details, will be discussed by the Early Learning Committee, which is made up of staff members from all district buildings, over the next several months.
Residents may complete a survey about what they’d like to see in the school through the district’s website, hsdr3.org.
