Lockport High School officials consider bond sales, leasing land for solar panels

A potential revenue generator could be to lease vacant land the district owns in Homer Glen to a solar energy company or install solar panels on the roofs of its buildings.

Lockport Township High School District 205 officials will soon consider a variety of ways to pay for improvements to its Central Campus, including issuing life safety or working cash bonds without going to a referendum, using cash reserves or seeking alternative revenue sources, such as leasing land to a solar energy plant.

District officials are trying to figure out the best path forward after voters rejected a March 19 referendum to fund $85 million in improvements to its 115-year-old Central Campus.

District officials said life safety work still needs to be done at the freshmen campus, which closed to students in the fall after a ceiling collapsed in one of the classrooms, resulting in students being bused to the former Lincoln-Way North High School. Central Campus is expected to reopen in the fall after ceiling repairs are completed.

But the district has a long list of other upgrades and improvements, including replacing a roof last done in the 1980s, replacing the domestic water system which has had small water leaks over the past few years, and replacing the main electric distribution panel, said Eric Sickbert of DLA Architects. Its single-paned windows also cause condensation, and the lintels behind the walls are rusted and need to be replaced, Sickbert said.

Other projects include bringing interior classroom doors up to code, installing fire doors on each side of the stairways, installing a sprinkler system and tuckpointing the building to help keep moisture out. The aging heating, ventilation and cooling system is another area officials would like to address.

To pay for some of these projects, the district could issue between $26 million and $34.5 million in bonds without going to a referendum, officials said. Life safety bonds, which are earmarked for specific needs, require state approval, said Bob Lewis, senior vice president of PMA Securities. If the district were to issue working cash bonds, there is a 30-day petition process in which 10% of registered voters could force the district to go to a referendum, he said.

The cost to a homeowner with a home value of about $295,600 would be about $35 a year if the district sought any of these options, because it could structure its principal and interest payments in various ways, said Stefanie Croix, director of business services.

A potential revenue generator could be to lease vacant land the district owns in Homer Glen to a solar energy company or install solar panels on the roofs of its buildings. The option has become popular with school districts, said Julia Henry an associate with Forefront Power.

A lease, for instance, could generate $4.8 million over 30 years on 40 acres of land. A potential solar farm wouldn’t be ready to break ground until next spring once permits are secured, Henry said.

The district is surveying residents and set up a citizens advisory committee. Preliminary survey results of more than 300 residents indicated residents want to prioritize life safety issues, want the school board to live within its means, want more financial transparency and are interested in community engagement, said Evan St. Lifer from Innovate K12, which is running the survey.

Superintendent Robert McBride said he hopes more residents will participate. The district has prepared a direct mailer to be sent out to all households in the district.

The district hosted an open house Monday before its board meeting to allow residents to question district officials, school board members, architects, financial advisers and other professionals.

Board member Zyan Navarra said he believed it was helpful to talk one-on-one with residents.

Board member Lance Thies said he’s been reflecting on election data and voters’ desires in the wake of the referendum’s defeat.

He said Lockport Township residents value the Central Campus as an historic building and want to see it preserved and renovated, whereas Homer Township and Homer Glen voters are less emotionally connected to Central, not overly concerned if it were vacant and would rather see a new high school closer to their community.

Crest Hill residents are not only separated geographically by the Des Plaines River Valley, but still harbor resentment after losing the former Lockport West High School to Romeoville in the 1960s.

Historically, the district does poorly when passing referendums, Thies said, noting of 26 referendum proposals on the ballot since 1966, only two have passed.

In 1989, voters passed a referendum after the district warned budget cuts would shutter the East Campus and eliminate athletics, extracurricular activities and busing. In 1995, the community passed a referendum to expand East Campus and renovate Central Campus after significant population growth, Thies said.

“I do not believe that there will be an appetite for future referendums increases because it will never be the right time, making it incumbent on us to find alternative ways of not only planning for our short term needs but also setting the stage for the future while minimizing the impacts on the taxpayer,” Thies said.

Randy Juras of Lockport attended the open house because he supports renovating Central Campus for his 10-year-old grandson Easton, who is highly interested in technology. Juras, who voted yes on the referendum, said he would like to keep Central’s heritage while ensuring it has modern amenities.

Juras said he would like to see more church, civic and business leaders speak out in favor of the need to fund the school district.

“People don’t understand what they do get from the government,” Juras said. “If you don’t vote for it, you get what you voted against.”

Candace Gerritsen of Lockport, a Central Campus Advisory Council member, said she believes the district is being transparent with the issues at Central and ways to solve them.

“It is my impression they want to hear what the community has to say,” she said.

Other residents, however, said the school board is not listening, citing their plans to issue bonds for Central Campus renovations. Several residents said increasing taxes forces residents to move and hurts senior citizens on a fixed income.

Homer Glen resident Tammy Hayes said residents voted against the renovations to Central Campus.

“After the referendum failed, (the board is) still pushing the same ‘Save Central’ narrative with no other alternatives in sight,” Hayes said.

Homer Glen resident Jay Roti said the district should look into other options, such as a modest expansion at the East Campus. The district’s enrollment is expected to decline, and an addition to East could allow the district to close the Central Campus and consolidate its students onto one campus, saving money on administration and buses, Roti said.

“Why are we only being given one option,” Roti said. “Why are we not even discussing this? A 700-student addition can last another 50 years here at one location. We don’t have to worry about something else going wrong at Central because it’s currently a 115-year-old building.”

McBride said the district has to continue to look forward.

“You have a responsibility to house your students,” McBride said. “It’s as simple as that. Perhaps we have made it very complex. We have 1,000 students going to school in another community.”

Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.