Brad Breon, superintendent of Moravia School District, led a discussion Monday during a Moravia School Board meeting on the plans for a new building to house a preschool and administrative offices. He told the crowd attending that there will be another meeting on the topic Aug. 4 and he hoped there would be even more people in attendance.

“We are holding these meetings to get input from the community and we want you to ask as many questions as you want,” he said.

Three school board members went to visit the Pekin School District, which has a preschool and day care in place which compares to those planned for Moravia. It has been in place for eight years and he said the board members came back very impressed with how it is working for Pekin.

Breon stressed the need for more space, especially since 40 students are expected to open enroll in Moravia from kindergarten to the 12th grade. He listed expected enrollment figures for next year, including 30 projected for the preschool. Breon said the fifth grade is going to be split into two classes and the fourth grade may have to be split, too. He also mentioned the parking lot is always very congested, especially after school when buses are there. The plans call for an expanded parking area.

“We will get $3,300 per student. If a 5 year old is enrolled in preschool, we will get the full $5,500 which is the per-student rate from the state,” he said.

“Staffing will be one staff member for every four infants and toddlers, on up to 20 preschoolers with a teacher and an aide. The first year, the child care portion will be limited to eight.”

Plans were shown of the proposed building and parking lot. The estimated cost is $1.68 million, $168 per square foot. The parking lot will be $40,000.

“We are looking to get as many grants as possible. The tax rate will not go up. We want to use SILO funds to help pay for this,” Breon said.

“I predict we will get about $220,000 per year on SILO and we would like to use $100,000 of it on this project. We are still paying on the elementary school, and will be for four more years, but after 2014 there will be more money available. Moravia’s tax rate is almost the lowest in the area at 14.48 - and we lowered that tax rate by 52 cents in the last two years.”

The meeting was then opened for questions.

What if everyone wants to bring a child, what would be the criteria for choosing them?

The state says you have to take the lower income children first. They have priority because of the grant we are getting. For infants and toddlers, Breon said he thinks the cost for day care will be $2.25 per hour which seems to be the going rate.

Is this a nine-month program?

No, it will run from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. all year long, unless bad weather forces the school to close.

What if a family has older kids who need watching after school?