Little Cash For Lyons Township High Upgrades

LA GRANGE, IL – Don't expect any big projects at Lyons Township High School for the next six years, an official said Monday. That's unless the school finds a major new source of money.

Late last year, the school opened its new cafeteria and music space at South Campus.

That was the biggest project of the $46 million in work over the last couple of years. Most of the projects were debt-financed.

The school won't be able to secure any new debt until 2033, Superintendent Brian Waterman said.

"In the absence of anything else, our facilities are going to look the same for the next six years," Waterman said.

The public, he said, likely wants renovations of the school's athletic facilities and classroom modernization.

Officials noted the possibility of tapping other sources of money before 2033, such as putting a tax hike on the ballot or selling the school's 71 acres in Willow Springs.

"No referendum," board member Elias Lopez said.

Compared with a referendum, the sale of the land in Willow Springs is seen as more likely, perhaps bringing the school $20 million.

In 2023, the school's initially secret effort to sell the land to an industrial developer collapsed in the face of a local backlash.

Now, the school board appears to be taking a more open approach to selling the property. The land is zoned for residential and retail.

At Monday's meeting, Brian Stachacz, the school's top finance official, said the school may have about $2 million a year in its regular budget for smaller projects. But that number could go up and down, depending on the budget's day-to-day spending, he said.

"A lot of those projects aren't as exciting as the cafeteria and the music space at South Campos. They are HVAC systems, roofing," he said.

One of the most unpredictable parts of the budget is health insurance, he said. A big cause is pharmaceuticals.

"Those continue to be a higher percentage of our cost in the medical insurance every year," Stachacz said.

A school committee plans to look at ways to control costs. Stachacz said the administration and employees hope to avoid socking staff with another big premium increase.