LTHS Central Students To Relocate To Lincoln-Way North: School Board

LOCKPORT, IL — At an emergency meeting on Tuesday, the Lockport Township High School Board of Education approved a resolution to resume in-person learning for Central Campus students and staff at the Lincoln-Way North High School property.

Lincoln-Way North High School is off of Harlem Avenue in Frankfort, and was closed in 2016. It is part of the Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210.

Specifics and more information on the relocation will be shared as soon as possible, the District said.

"This resolution is aligned to the Board of Education’s goal to resume in-person learning as soon as possible while ensuring that a thorough inspection is made of all spaces inside of Central Campus and appropriate repairs, remodeling, or remediation takes place to address any
defects," the District said in a news release.

The move to Lincoln-Way North comes after a classroom ceiling collapsed at LTHS Central campus last week. The District has said that students will not return to Central Campus until it is safe to do so.

At Tuesday's meeting, Superintendent Bob McBride showed a risk assessment map from the forensic architect firm of low risk to high risk ceiling construction areas at LTHS Central campus.

The District has found that some rooms even have several layers of ceiling, using different techniques of ceiling installation.

On the lower level of the school, the cafeteria was assessed as "low risk," but there was a small area of low to medium risk.

On the first floor, there is a large section that is still low risk, and a smaller low to medium risk in the Smith Foyer area. However, there is a medium to high risk area in two hallways, and one corner classroom.

On the second floor of the school, many areas are again in the low risk, or low to medium risk category. However, business classrooms and foods classrooms on the second floor are medium to high risk, as well as one small office area. There are also a few classrooms that were assessed at medium risk level.

The third floor of the school, which is where the collapse occurred, does have several classrooms in the high risk assessment.

The only section that forensic architects found to be high risk is up in the northwest corner of the school on the third floor, McBride said.

"We are taking action right now [on that area], because we know that action needs to be taken on those rooms," McBride said. Adjacent to the high risk area, a hallway and biology classrooms are in the medium to high risk category.

Medium to high risk ceilings should be considered for replacement, officials said. High risk ceilings need to be removed as quickly as possible.

"This is going to take longer than we thought," McBride said. He believes it will take at least a month to two months for repairs.

The District has said previously that the collapse was not a building structure issue, but a sub-structure issue related to construction methods in some of our Central Campus classrooms.

Since the collapse, the District had been exploring options for school operations including continuing remote learning, housing all students at LTHS East campus, or using an alternative facility for LTHS Central students and staff.

The District is also working to get an estimate on how long Central campus will be out of commission.