Seeking proposals

The Portland Foundation is hoping to be able to take the next step toward opening an early learning center in a former elementary school building.

The foundation this month put out a request for proposals for operators for a facility in the former Judge Haynes Elementary School Building. The deadline to apply is March.ch

Serious discussions about forming a new child care or early learning center locally have been ongoing for more than a year, with The Portland Foundation purchasing the former Judge Haynes building from Jay School Corporation in August for $35,000. At that time, foundation executive director Doug Inman noted that early childhood education has been on the organization’s radar since 2017 via the third iteration of the 20/20 Vision project.

A section of Jay County, including much of Portland, has been deemed child care “deserts.” Most of the county is rated as having “low capacity” when it comes to child care options.

“This is important for the community because this is an economic development issue, it’s a quality of life issue,” said Inman. “Economic development-wise, you have people leaving the workforce because there’s no place to take their kids. …

“Quality of life issue — these are the children that are going to live here as adults, hopefully. There are so many studies out that if children are taken care of in an early childhood education setting, how much more productive they are as adults, how much better adjusted they are socially as adults, just how much better they are as a citizen of the community.

“It’s just something that the foundation feels very passionately about that it is a huge need.”

The Portland Foundation’s request for proposals calls for a provider that:

•Is licensed and registered by the state

•Accepts Child Care and Development Fund Program and On My Way to Pre-K vouchers with a willingness to serve all children regardless of socio-economic background

•Offers services from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday

•Implement high-quality early childhood curriculum, conduct developmental assessments and host parent/teacher conferences twice a year

After the proposal deadline, The Portland Foundation’s board will review them to determine if one fits the needs and requirements to move forward.

“We’d love to find someone with experience,” said Inman. “All things being equal, we’d love for someone to be local …

“I’ve had conversations with a couple organizations … that have experience with running early learning centers. … Once we get through that process and if we are comfortable and decide to move forward with someone, we’ll have them come alongside to help design the facility, the flow of which classroom goes where and what happens where.”

The provider would also be required to utilize Paths to QUALITY, a Family and Social Services Administration program that assesses child care facilities as follows:

Level 1 — Health and safety needs of children met

Level 2 — Environment supports children's learning

Level 3 — Planned curriculum guides child development and school readiness

Level 4 — National accreditation (the highest indicator of quality) is achieved

The foundation is requiring the facility be at least a Level 3 on that continuum.

The goal is to select a provider and seek construction bids this spring, begin renovations this summer and open the facility in fall 2024.

If a suitable provider does not emerge next month, Inman said the foundation would likely amend and reissue its request for proposals.

The request comes following an evaluation of the Judge Haynes building — it was last utilized as an elementary school in 2018 — by architectural and engineering firm Barton Coe Vilamaa. (The firm, which specializes in school projects and has worked with Jay School Corporation, had done an initial assessment on the building before The Portland Foundation purchased it.)

The foundation asked Barton Coe Vilamaa to return with “good,” “better” and “best” options for how to renovate the building to become an early learning center. The firm returned with estimates ranging from $2 million for the “good” option to $5.25 million for the “best” option.

In the “good” option, the firm recommends isolating the west wing — it has extensive roof damage that has led to water leaks —, replacing the roof on the remaining portions of the building, tuck pointing installing new ceiling tiles, replacing the chiller and pumps, replacing all lighting, installing age-appropriate playground equipment and a variety of other items.

The “better” option ($4.25 million), in addition to everything in the “good” option, would involve demolishing the west wing of the building, renovating restrooms and a variety of new equipment and features.

The “best” option would add a new entryway to the south side of the building that would allow the elimination of use of the north (High Street) entrance to help with traffic flow as well as constructing restrooms within classrooms.

The Portland Foundation’s board members have independently reviewed the report and plan to discuss the best path forward for renovation at their March 1 meeting.

In the meantime, Inman said area contractors Muhlenkamp Building Corporation, Mid-States Construction and Limberlost Construction have been invited to walk through the facility and assess Barton Coe Villamaa’s cost estimates.

“The hope is that they would then put in a proposal when it comes time to do so,” said Inman.

Plans call for The Portland Foundation to cover the majority of the cost of rehabilitating the Judge Haynes Building. Inman added there is $300,000 in Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) funding set aside for early childhood education in Jay County — “We’re hopeful that that would come for this project,” he said — as well as other federal grant funds. The Indiana legislature has also been discussing funding for early childhood education as part of its current session, during which it will write its budget for the next two years.

“We’re feeling that this is a point in time that a lot of pieces have fallen together into the puzzle of making this a favorable project for Jay County,” said Inman.

Child care was identified as the top priority through a recent planning process via Lilly Endowment’s Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT VII) Community Leadership Grant and by all four pathway groups that were part of the Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program (HELP), which is helping the county evaluate how best to utilize its nearly $4 million in federal coronavirus relief funding provided through the American Rescue Plan Act.

Inman initially brought a proposal to Jay County government officials regarding the possibility of partnering on a child care and early learning facility in the Judge Haynes building in late 2021. County officials initially committed $700,000 to the project, then a month later rescinded that decision.

The Portland Foundation’s board then decided last summer to move forward with making an offer to purchase the Judge Haynes site in order to secure it for potential use as an early learning center rather than have it potentially sold for another purpose.