Illinois

Groundbreaking On New Dunlap District Offices Expected Soon

WCBU | By Tim Shelley

Published May 21, 2020 at 1:34 PM CDT

Rendering of the new Dunlap district office at Rt. 91 and Legion Hall Road.

The Dunlap School District's new offices should be completed by this fall.The district's offices have been housed in leased space on Willow Knolls Road in Peoria for about a decade. But the new offices will be at the corner of Route 91 and Legion Hall Road in Dunlap.Board member Theresa Holshouser gave an update on the timeline Wednesday. "The expected groundbreaking should be the first week in June. So beginning June 8, depending of course upon weather and the bidding. So pretty soon you should be seeing the structure go up," she said. The project is going out for bid now. It's expected to cost between $1.1 and $1.4 million. It should be completed by September at the latest. Uncertainty clouds next fallDunlap's superintendent said his biggest concern about the upcoming school year is getting trapped in a cycle of closing and reopening. Dr. Scott Dearman says CDC guidelines recommend a school close for 2 to 5 days if someone tests positive for COVID-19. In a district of 5,000 students and staff, he says it's inevitable someone will test positive even with mitigation measures in place. "I just think we need some direction from our state officials and Illinois State Board of Education as far as what are the expectations moving forward for the reopening of school, and what are the parameters they'd like to see within that," he said. "And we just haven't received it." Dearman says he's not in favor of pushing back school year starts to Labor Day or later, as he doesn't feel an additional few weeks off will make much of a difference. On a positive note, he said it appears the state is keeping school funding flat this year, rather than cutting it. We’re living in unprecedented times when information changes by the minute. WCBU will continue to be here for you, keeping you up-to-date with the live, local and trusted news you need. Help ensure WCBU can continue with its in-depth and comprehensive COVID-19 coverage as the situation evolves by making a contribution.