$218M Master Facilities Plan Proposed For OPRF High School

OAK PARK, IL --- Oak Park-River Forest High School recently presented a master facilities plan that has a price tag of $218 million. The school board held a meeting on Oct. 30 to share the plan with residents and get feedback ahead of a potential vote on Nov. 15.

A group of more than 250 people packed the school for the meeting, which was shared in a Facebook Live broadcast due to the large amount of interest in the subject, according to school officials.

A draft of the master facilities plan has been in the works since August 2017, when the school organized the Imagine OPRF Work Group, a team of community members to workshop the plan. School officials say the group was formed after residents rejected a bond issue in 2016 of up to $25 million in funds that would have been used as part of a proposed master facilities plan of nearly $45 million.

While working on the plan, the group's goal was to focus on a "fiscally responsible facilities plan that supports equity and current and future academic programming needs."

Some priorities of the proposed master facilities plan include adding a dedicated locker area for non-binary students, creating safer learning spaces and improved accessibility throughout the school, and adding a swimming pool with a diving area.

Many residents at Tuesday's meeting expressed their support of all or parts of the draft of the plan, but took issue with the high cost of the proposal.

Robert Douglas, a resident who spoke at the meeting, called the cost "astronomical" and recommended that the board "restart from scratch." He added, "If we were wise, we'd start with a budget and design within those constraints."

Monica Sheehan addressed the board on the issue of racial equity, which has been at the forefront of many residents' minds since the release of "America to Me," a documentary that traces the lives of students at the high school.

Sheehan mentioned a student who appeared in the docuseries and how that student once challenged a proposal to build a new pool at the school instead of investing money in educational pursuits. Sheehan pressed the board, "In the wake of 'America to Me,' is it an appropriate legacy to spend $67 million dollars of our limited educational dollars to accommodate the building of a 17-lane swimming pool?

Board members will review and discuss the public's feedback and may vote on the master facilities plan at the Nov. 15 meeting.

Residents are encouraged to send questions and concerns to Superintendent Dr. Joylynn Pruitt-Adams at jpruittadams@oprfhs.org.

Image via GoogleMaps Streetview