Edison Primary School was abruptly shut down, after officials received some very unwelcome news from their latest engineering assessment just last week.
While the abrupt decision to shut down immediately has caught parents off-guard, district officials said they had no choice.
"The wall itself has separated the foundation by about an inch and a half. So much more movement and we have a roof collapse. We couldn't take a chance on that happening," said Lyle Neal, assistant superintendent of business and operations for Kankakee School District 111.
Cracks have been showing up in the nearly 70-year-old building for some time now. But, until recently, it was thought those did not pose an imminent danger. The school, which is also underused, had been slated to close at the end of the year. Now, its 185 students are on remote learning this week until everyone can be relocated.
"I want the same friends, and the same teacher, too," third-grader Tadeo Bonilla said.
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The good news for the third-grader is that will happen. All of Edison's third-grade classes will, as of next Monday, move to Kennedy, while most other students will go to Steuben.
Officials said schools have empty classrooms that can easily be repurposed.
"We moved the teachers with their students. So the belonging and the sense of inclusivity that they have with those teachers will still stay in place. We just moved them to a new building," Kankakee School District 111 Superintendent Teresa Lance said.
Parents on Tuesday were sent home with packets containing their children's assignments for the week. That is to give teachers time to set up their new classrooms.
"The second reason is to give our transportation department ample time to re-route our students," Lance said.
But while the logistics have been worked out, the prospect is a scary one for some children, who must now get used to entirely new surroundings.
"My youngest daughter, she's 9. But I've had three children come through this school. She's a little scared. She's one of those kids who, she's shy. She's really shy, and it takes her a while to open up," parent Lakesha Taylor said.
Parents and students will have an opportunity to tour their children's new schools during an open house on Thursday.