LTHS At Odds With Pleasantdale On Industrial Uses

LA GRANGE, IL – The state school boards association is looking at whether to back a state law to bar industrial development next to schools.

Sound familiar?

Last year, the Lyons Township High School board tried to sell its land next to Pleasantdale Elementary School to an industrial developer.

The effort was kept secret for months, even from public bodies such as Pleasantdale School District 107. When the board finally went public, Willow Springs and Burr Ridge residents rose up in opposition. Before the April election, the board abandoned the effort.

Now, District 107 has gone to the Illinois Association of School Boards to propose a resolution backing a prohibition on industrial uses next to schools. It argued such development is harmful to students.

The association is expected to vote on the measure later this month, but the group's resolutions committee has recommended against it.

The committee said such a law would hurt small towns that depend on income from industrial operations with space only available near schools.

The panel also said such a ban would hurt local control and that the EPA should be brought in for environmental issues.

At a meeting this week, Lyons Township High School board members also opposed the resolution, citing the need for local control.

Even board member Tim Albores joined the majority. He is the only member who is on record opposing selling the high school's land in Willow Springs to an industrial developer. He was not on the board when it pushed for such a sale.

Albores said a statewide prohibition would "unduly burden" school districts.

In the board's discussion, no one mentioned the local situation that prompted Pleasantdale's proposal.

Earlier this year, the attorney general ordered the board to release recordings of its January closed meetings about the proposed sale. That was because the board broke the law in discussing the issue behind closed doors.

During the meetings, members pondered whether to continue the strategy of keeping other public bodies out of the loop. They also bashed Willow Springs officials.

One member said industrial development would hurt the neighbors. Other members agreed. No such statement has been made in a public meeting.