URBANA – Plans to follow an aggressive schedule in designing and building a new early childhood center for the Urbana school district have hit a snag.

Several Urbana school board members – concerned about the future of state funding for early childhood programs – want more detailed information on how the proposed center could be connected to the adjacent Prairie Elementary School and share space with that school.

How to proceed with building a new early childhood center has been a topic of conversation for nearly a year, as the board has struggled to agree on whether to build a new school, repurpose an elementary school for the center, or renovate the current school. They've also grappled with whether or not to include it in the first round of capital projects to be paid for with sales tax revenue, and what site is best to build a new center.

Board President John Dimit said at the board's Tuesday night meeting he was "troubled" that the board didn't have a more specific design showing a connection between a proposed center to be built along East Washington Street and Prairie school.

"We're trying to be responsible stewards of the available money we have for capital projects in this district," Dimit said, adding he'd have a hard time supporting a free-standing early childhood center, or one that is larger than the present Washington school, right now.

Architect Riley Glerum of IGW Architecture presented schematic design plans for the center to the school board Tuesday. The schedule called for the board to review the final schematic design in March, and then go forward with final design work, construction documents and bidding in the spring and early summer, with the school to open in August 2012.

Glerum said if design work moves quickly enough on an expansion to Prairie that would connect to the early childhood center, the project might remain on schedule. But when he comes back to the board in mid-March, he said, it will likely be with plans that are in progress, rather than finalized.

If the schedule is delayed by a month or two, it will mean the school will not be ready to open in August 2012, Glerum said.

"You would be moving into the building during the school year or during the semester break," he said.

That concerns Washington Early Childhood Principal Cris Vowels.

"We certainly don't want to delay if we don't have to," she said, adding that she expects she and her staff will continue to work on more detailed plans for the early childhood center, including what materials will be used in the building, what the outdoor areas will look like, and how office spaces will be set up, while Glerum works with Prairie Principal Yavonnda Smith on how it might expand.

"Right now we have the big picture. We're ready to move into the details that will fill that in," Vowels said.

Dimit said the board needs to come to a consensus on what it wants to see.

"We want to move it along as fast as possible, but we want to do it so 10 years from now, we can look back and say we made a good decision," he said.

He and board members Steve Summers and Elaine Gehrmann all said they want to see the early childhood center connected to Prairie. The two schools could be connected by a gym, and they could share the family center planned for the early childhood school that would provide resources and a place to meet for parents.

The design Glerum presented Tuesday showed a free-standing building to the east of Prairie that could be connected with a corridor if Prairie was expanded. He said it was difficult to present a more specific design that shows a connection to Prairie because no decision has been made on how big an expansion might be and what it might include.

He'll work with Smith, Facilities Director Ota Dossett and the design committee established for the early childhood center to come up with a more detailed design showing an early childhood center connected to Prairie.

While some board members wanted to see more, they were all pleased with the design for the new early childhood center. It showed two groups of eight classrooms each, with playground space between them. It also included a gross motor skills space, gym, family center, laundry, kitchen, and an administrative area with offices and a screening and testing area.

Vowels said her staff had a lot of input. They've "been thinking ahead and planning for years," she said. "Much of this is our ideas, our discussion, and we are thrilled."