Grayslake D46 Parents Want To Know Why Some Schools Have A/C And Others Don't

On the day classes were cancelled at Meadowview and Woodview schools in because of excessive temperatures, frustrated parents attended the board of education meeting seeking answers as to why those buildings lacked appropriate climate control.

Parent Eric Gallagher, who has a son at Meadowview, which has no classroom air-conditioning, and a daughter at Prairieview, which does, said the decision to close the schools did not go over well.

"I'm looking for answers as to what makes my daughter at Prairieview more important than my son at Meadowview?"

He accused the school board of to only air-condition Grayslake Middle School and not Meadowview or Woodview.

Pick and Choose?

In February, the board voted 5-2 to install air-conditioning units at Grayslake Middle School at a cost of nearly $1 million. This resulted in Meadowview and Woodview being the only district schools to go without.

At the Sept. 5 board meeting, parent Nicole Dusek said she didn't think it was fair for the board to "pick and choose" who sweats it out and who doesn't.

"I love how you're all in he air-conditioning tonight. You should be ashamed."

The decision to close the two schools for the day was for the safety of the students, said D46 Supt. Ellen Correll, adding staff had been monitoring classroom temperatures and humidity.

"When they come together (heat and humidity), that's when it becomes dangerous for students."

Rumors

, one poster wrote, "Rumor has it that the school cancellation was not due to air-conditioning but some other area of 'student safety' that Correll didn't want to get out in the public. They used the air conditioning as an excuse. Think about it, there have been many other times when the temperatures were more than this week, but school was never cancelled before during Correll's 8 years in charge."

Patch asked Correll to respond to that rumor. The following is her statement:

"I have been monitoring the heat in the classrooms since school opened. What one has to realize is that the temperature inside the rooms are often different than outside the building. I had stated at the last meeting that I would consider closing school IF the temperature AND the humidity were in the danger zones for two days," Correll told Patch.

"The problem we had was that on Monday and Tuesday evenings and over night, the temps did not fall enough to allow us to cool the buildings at all. Parents that attended the open house on Tuesday night were met with temperatures in the high 90's. So, despite rumors, this decision was made solely on the data--not anything else."

Board member Shannon Smigielski, who is a district bus driver, said her vote in February was a most difficult one. , Smigielski said she favored installing air-conditioning at the middle school first because it had a larger student population compared with Meadowview and Woodview. For financial reasons, she said she could not approve systems for all three schools at the same time.

At Wednesday's board meeting, Smigielski reiterated how torn she was over that decision, stating that had she been aware the district was facing a budget deficit, she would have voted against installing air-conditioning at the middle school too.

"It comes at a cost and that is cuts in other areas."

Bond Money

Some parents said they heard the district did have the funds to air-condition the other two schools. That may or may not be the case, Correll told Patch.

"It depends upon your view of the budget."

The middle school's system was paid for with bond money, said Smigielski, as there are no surplus funds available. There is still bond money, she noted, but once it is used, it's gone and there would be no money to pay for an emergency situation, like if a boiler blew.

It's also not wise to continue using bond money for such projects, she said, because the district has a negative bond rating and cannot borrow any more.

"We should be budgeting for these things," she said.

Chiming in, board member Keith Surroz said bond money "has very specific limitations."

He noted the middle school also won out over Meadowview and Woodview due to the age of the students, whose adolescent bodies are going through hormonal changes.

Smigielski vowed if money is found in the budget for air-conditioning systems at the two schools, she will "vote yes in a heartbeat."

"I can't write a check I don't have."