One of the largest challenges to finding employees — available childcare — suddenly took center stage Tuesday as USD 257 Board of Education members discussed myriad issues, including the fate of a soon-to-be-vacant maintenance office.
The maintenance office will move once construction of a new facility is finished near Iola High School, perhaps as early as this fall.
With that in mind, board members have tossed around ideas of what to do with the existing office at 408 N. Cottonwood St.
Two ideas stood out in a recent board retreat: Using the structure as a home for USD 257’s preschool, or as a daycare facility.
“It’s too small to do both,” Jenna Higginbotham, the district’s curriculum director, said Tuesday. “It’s either the perfect size for a preschool, or the perfect size for a daycare.”
The district’s preschool program is divided between two buildings, Munchkinland on South Walnut and Ready, Set, Learn in a building that adjoins First Baptist Church on North Cottonwood.
Board members quickly latched onto the idea of the latter.
Board member Lisa Wicoff said it help would draw employees.
A parent could know “I can come to Iola, I can start teaching, and my babies are being taken care of.”
Superintendent of Schools Stacey Fager noted other districts are opening their own daycare centers. In Chanute, USD 413 administrators are looking to convert their Early Learning Center into a childcare facility.
Board members said the need for a new preschool site is lower on the priority list, in large part because enrollment numbers are down, like much of rural Kansas. The most recent enrollment figures show a 5.4% drop for 2025-26. With lower enrollment, preschool classes could more easily fit in at Iola Elementary School, if necessary.
“No decision has to be made tonight, but I did want to see what the pulse of the board is on this,” Fager said.
IN A RELATED matter, Fager noted construction continues on the new maintenance facility, as well as a new multipurpose building next door in the 300 block of North Cottonwood Street.
While the maintenance building likely won’t be ready for occupancy until July or August at the earliest, the multipurpose building could be finished as early as this spring, Fager said.
He and maintenance director Aaron Cole found what promises to be a good deal on a swath of artificial turf to be used in part of the multipurpose building, making it ideal for indoor activities and practices.
The turf is coming from an indoor track athletic facility, and is in good shape, Cole said, and could be had for about $10,000 — much less than the $55,000 price tag if new turf was used.
