'Infuriating': Lyons Township High Official Changes Tune

WILLOW SPRINGS, IL – A Lyons Township High School board member appears to have changed her tune on a proposal to sell the school's land in Willow Springs.

In early 2023, Willow Springs was in an uproar after word leaked of the school board's previously secret effort to sell the 70 acres to an industrial developer.

Paula Struwing, who was appointed to the board in May, is an administrator of the "Willow Springs Voice" page on Facebook. In January 2023, she aired her views about the land.

"Infuriating – I will attend the (school board) meeting and be asking questions," said Struwing, a Willow Springs resident. "I live down there and really want to know what they need the money from this sale for? They clearly have plans and the agenda would NEVER have passed if this land was in La Grange."

School board records show Struwing neither attended nor spoke at the next board meeting. That was when members also held two closed sessions on the land that the attorney general later found to be against the law.

At the time, Willow Springs residents made the case that the board would never have considered such a land sale next to Cossitt Elementary School in downtown La Grange. Village officials also spoke out against industrial development on land that was zoned for residential and light commercial.

Since then, though, Struwing seems to have changed her position on the land.

At last week's school board meeting, she said "a large contingency" of Willow Springs residents feel as though village officials made decisions about the land without consulting residents who live next to the property.

She also suggested the village could discuss rezoning the land. It is next to houses, an elementary school, a park and a UPS facility.

Before the April 2023 village election, Struwing was against the village's ruling party, called Integrity. She favored the Alliance Party. The Integrity candidates prevailed.

In one Facebook post, Struwing said it seemed the Integrity Party was withholding information and not answering questions about village issues. She suggested the silence may be the result of the party not wanting to reveal information showing it acted immorally or unethically.

Struwing has not returned two emailed messages for comment since last Wednesday.

Ordered by the attorney general, the school board released the recordings of the two closed sessions. In the meetings, board members strategized about how to keep the village government and the nearby elementary school out of the loop about the pending deal.

One board member said the sale to an industrial developer would hurt neighbors. Others could be heard agreeing.

The board has since taken a new approach, saying it wants to involve the village government and others.