Quarrel Rocks LTHS Just Before Election

LA GRANGE, IL – A year ago, cultural disputes rocked Lyons Township High School board meetings, as they did across the country.

The topics included critical race theory, LGBT issues and mask mandates.

As mask mandates disappeared, so did the debate. As for the other subjects, hardly anyone goes to school board meetings to talk about them anymore.

And a new controversy is eclipsing the old ones – the school's plan to sell its land in Willow Springs to an industrial developer.

Officials in both Willow Springs and Burr Ridge are against industrial development there. So are Pleasantdale School District 107 and Pleasant Dale Park District.

This all comes just a couple of months before the April election.

In Willow Springs, signs are popping up reading, "Say NO to Industrial/Commercial in Pleasantdale." One is even posted at a house across from the high school's North Campus in La Grange.

A sign opposing Lyons Township High School's proposal to sell its land to an industrial developer is seen along German Church Road in Willow Springs. (David Giuliani/Patch)

The land in question is zoned for single-family houses, small retailers and retirement complexes. It is next to an elementary school, a park, a country club, houses and a UPS facility.

At Monday's school board meeting, two residents, including Willow Springs Village President Melissa Neddermeyer, called for the superintendent's ouster. Others denounced the school for its secrecy about the land sale.

Residents were particularly angry with Superintendent Brian Waterman's apparent courting of developer Bridge Industrial starting last March, which Patch first reported last week. This was long before the school announced its interest in selling Nov. 30.

In the mid-2000s, the school last publicly considered selling the land. Residents recall a number of public hearings at the time before the board decided against selling.

This time, the board decided to sell and got bids within a month's time – over the Christmas holiday. The board discussed the matter at two meetings, a few minutes each time. Members have not responded to the public criticism.

Although the board promised to stay open about the sale, it never told the public that it hired an appraiser to assess the property for industrial uses. It never mentioned that Bridge Industrial sparked the process in the first place. And it did not reveal Waterman's months-long communications.

The board said it notified area government entities that it was looking to sell before the Nov. 30 announcement; the others say that's not so.

Bridge was the top bidder, at $55 million, which was the board's minimum price. The other bidder, Prologis, offered $46.5 million.

Last month, the board rejected the bids, but pledged to continue negotiations.

In the last few weeks, more than 4,100 have signed a Change.org petition opposing the sale of the land to an industrial developer.

That's not a scientific poll by any means. And there's no way to tell where the signers live.

Pleasantdale Elementary School is about ready to let out for the day Monday. The school is next to land owned by Lyons Township High School, which wants to sell it to an industrial developer. (David Giuliani/Patch)

But the petition could be compared to one in similarly sized Hinsdale High School District 86. That petition seeks the removal of Tammy Prentiss as superintendent. It was created during the height of the anti-mask movement and the debate over an anti-racist consultant.

That petition has been up a year, and it has collected about 2,300 signatures, far fewer than the one in Lyons Township.

Patch has found just one way to contact school board President Kari Dillon, through her Facebook page. She has not returned messages.