St. East looking for Plan B

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East looking for Plan B

By a Meltzer Daily Herald Staff Writer

Posted on July 06, 2001

At its last meeting, the St. school board decided to embark on an

11-week repair schedule to open the Dunham wing of St. East High

School by Sept. 17 - just two weeks late - provided work started the first

week in July.

But after learning a building permit for the work could not be issued until

late next week, Superintendent Francis Kostel said the district needs to

rethink its plan.

" It certainly impacts the ability to move forward with that plan, and we

will be reevaluating our options, " Kostel said.

East was closed indefinitely this spring after the discovery of potentially

dangerous mold. Last week the district presented a plan to Regional

Superintendent Clem Mejia to do extensive repairs to the Dunham wing and

house students there and in 50 mobile classrooms while the fate of the main

building was decided.

Under Illinois law, Mejia issues building permits for school construction,

but he said he didn't get all the necessary drawings from the district until

4:20 p.m. Tuesday. Mejia said he still is waiting for certain specifications

and for a final report from a forensic architect.

With a holiday Wednesday, Mejia could not pass those documents to state

board of education architect Marty until Thursday. needs a

week to review the application, which means that the earliest a permit could

be issued is next Thursday.

" As far as the permit goes, I am reliant on the state board architect to

review the documents, " Mejia said. " When he tells me they are approvable, I

am ready and willing to issue the permit. "

That pushes the start date for East students back a month if no other delays

occur. And that has district administrators looking for alternatives.

Kostel said the school board will discuss its options at 7:30 p.m. Monday

during a meeting at Wredling Middle School.

The meeting provides an opening for St. parents and teachers

dissatisfied with the direction the board had chosen. Roughly 40 of them

rallied outside Mejia's office before a meeting with state Sen. Doris

Karpiel, whose district includes St. .

" We're trying to tell Sen. Karpiel that we need to stop, " said parent Kerrie

Balance, who helped organize the rally. " We're on the verge of granting

these permits, and we need to stop. "

At a press conference before the meeting, Karpiel said the state's role was

to provide money, not dictate an appropriate solution. That echoed comments

made repeatedly by Mejia - that his job is to make sure the building is

safe, not tell the district how to spend its money.

" What I do support is people's right to express themselves, and I encourage

them to go to their local school board, " Mejia said of the demonstrators.

That is what Balance's group plans to do. In addition to a slower

decision-making process, it wants all high school students to start school

Sept. 4 at North High School so that all students have access to complete

facilities and no one group makes all the sacrifices.

Kostel said North may not have room to house 3,400 students, even with

mobile classrooms, but it will be considered. So will using mobile

classrooms in some combination with Wredling Middle School.

School board member Hansen, who did not support the majority decision

to repair part of the building, said the issue needed to be revisited

regardless of the timetable for construction.

" For something that important, we didn't have a good conversation (at the

last meeting), " he said.

Hansen wants to demolish East and build a new high school because he doesn't

see repairs as cost effective. Administrators estimated it would cost more

than $50 million to build new, compared to $10 million for repairs, but

estimates from the state board of education are closer to $36 million for a

new school.

At the meeting Thursday, representatives from the state capital development

board, which administers state grants, said the state likely would cover 35

percent of either a renovation at East or a new building. However, the state

will cover only final projects, not temporary fixes.

Mold: North

may not have room for 3,400