Between 15 and 20 students with autism and other special needs who live in Henry and Stark counties are attending school many miles from home.
If all goes according to plan, they’ll be studying in Kewanee in the fall of 2026.
Casey Miller, executive director of the Henry-Stark Special Education District, reported to the Kewanee School Board Monday on the development of the former American Legion building on Railroad Avenue into an educational facility for kids with multiple disabilities and significant life skills needs from grade school through high school.
Now, Miller said, these students have to be transported to facilities in Peoria or the Quad Cities. The cost of transportation and tuition amounts to as much as $115,000 per student per school year.
Students living in the eight member school districts of the Henry-Stark area will be educated in Kewanee at a fraction of that cost, Miller said.
He said the Legion building will be remodeled into a state-of-the-art facility to be named the Wings Academy, designed especially for “a full range of students” in kindergarten through 12th grade.
There will be classrooms on both levels of the building, as well as other facilities — including an outdoor playground.
Miller told the school board that he hopes to have the architectural plans soon, that bids can be sought in October, and that a groundbreaking will be in November.
“The ultimate goal,” he said, is for classes to begin in the new facility in the 2026 school year.
Also Monday:
— Supt. Rebecca Baney reported that enrollment at Kewanee High School this year is 581 students. In all, there will be around 2,000 students in the Kewanee school system, she said.
— KHS Principal Amanda Tidwell reported that 174 students are out for fall sports this year.
— Baney said construction is proceeding on the auditorium-classroom addition, the tennis court and the outdoor fitness center at the high school.
