Air Conditioning Long The Plan At LTHS

LA GRANGE, IL — For years, Lyons Township High School has worked to retrofit air conditioning in its renovation projects, its spokeswoman says. But much of the two campuses are still without cool air.

In an interview Friday, Jennifer Bialobok, the school's community relations coordinator, said about half of North Campus, which serves juniors and seniors, is air-conditioned.

At the South Campus, where freshmen and sophomores go, less than half of the space has air conditioning, although Bialobok wasn't sure of the exact percentage.

It's become a big issue in the last week. The school was moving as many students as possible into air-conditioned areas of campuses.

By Thursday, though, Superintendent Brian Waterman acknowledged in a public statement that "our heat plan is limited." He decided to let out students at 11:30 a.m. Friday, hours earlier than usual.

In a public statement earlier this week, the school said 45 more classrooms in the B Wing at the South Campus are in line for the installation of air conditioning next summer.

"We have made a concerted effort over the last decade to retrofit to include air conditioning," Bialobok said. "If we have a project tearing up a hallway, we retrofit space for air conditioning."

She said the increased air conditioning at the South Campus is scheduled to be approved.

"It's been talked about and discussed for years," Bialobok said. "With these two very large campuses, it's no small undertaking."

Neighboring Hinsdale Central and South are mostly air-conditioned. The exceptions are the field house and main gym at both schools. At Central, the hallways are also without air conditioning.

By next week, the western suburbs are expected to see cooler temperatures, with highs dropping to the low 80s. This week, the mercury rose to the low 90s.