The Board of Education directed staff to move forward with a district-wide analysis, and to concurrently prioritize getting repair estimates on the two Dennis Lab Buildings, which will lead to development of a long-term plan.
At the August 8th Board Meeting, there were also updates on school security, busing, teacher vacancies, social-emotional learning, and student registration, but those will not be covered here. Valerie Wells with Herald & Review covered some of it. You can also watch the meeting or read my notes.
Public Comments
Keith Creighton, an assistant principal at Dennis, commended Dennis Secretaries Stephanie Harrington and Amy Creath, saying "we would be in a world of chaos if it weren't for their leadership and organization throughout this move," and that "they have organized and coordinated ALL of the things," being the point of contact for "so many people".
A Macarthur High School parent spoke, saying "I would like to get some direct responses about what's going to happen with the facilities at Dennis campuses if they're decommissioned."
The Board and administration do not respond to public comments.
Long Term Planning, Dennis Repairs
Superintendent Dr. Clark asked for board consensus to start with long term planning. First, she would request services from engineering firms to inspect all the District's buildings for structural issues. Then, she would start developing a plan and begin community involvement as step 2.
Board approval will be required after bids are submitted for the inspections, and at least 3 vendors must be interviewed. District Attorney Luke M. Feeney clarified that board approval is required for engineering contracts over $50,000, and for other contracts over $25,000.
Board Member Al Scheider wants to repair both Dennis buildings and was adamant about prioritizing repair estimates for them, saying the Dennis decision is separate from the district-wide decisions, should happen in the next month or so, and that "we need to be accountable" for the state of the buildings.
Though, Scheider isn't opposed to a new Dennis building. He's concerned about a new build taking up to 3 years, lack of a good location to build in, and that parents may not want to continue with the modular classrooms for that long.
Chief Operations Officer Dr. Mike Curry said that contractors have advised repairs would take at least a year to complete. On July 11th, Director of Buildings & Grounds Kent Metzger said experts had been out to look at the buildings, but they're waiting on final reports.
Clark said that reparing Dennis won't solve the District's problems. Board President Bill Clevenger advocated for the district-wide approach and not rushing the Dennis decision, saying we need to look 5 or 10 years ahead and consider the shrinking population, too.
Board Member Will Wetzel says "We're in a bad place. We've lost 25% of our population since 1980," that we're still shrinking and there will be pain in "decid[ing] to shrink." He says "We absolutely have to talk about Dennis" but without this plan, "we are just kicking the can down [the road] for our children."
Clark said the long-term planning would include this, not just the structures.
Student Enrollment
8,147 students were enrolled for 2021-2022, according to the Illinois Report Card. This number has declined each year since at least 2017-2018, when enrollment was 8,923 students.According to Dr. Clark, enrollment is expected around 7,400 for 2023-2024. See DPS61 Student Enrollment in Decline, Especially Among White Students.
Board Vice President Jason Dion concurred that having this plan would "[give] us the information to have those brave conversations," and that if the Dennis repair costs are prohibitive DPS "might have to take Dennis offline."
Board Members Mark Reynolds, Al Scheider, and Dr. Kevin Collins-Brown clearly supported prioritizing Dennis while also moving forward with the District-wide analysis.
After some confusion and discussion, the Board gave non-binding consensus for staff to seek out Dennis repair estimates while simultaneously getting the ball rolling for a district-wide analysis.
Board Member Alana Banks remained silent throughout this discussion, and the meeting as a whole, other than to make a few motions, cast her vote, and invite one person up to speak.
Dr. Curry said they'll seek cost estimates from multiple bidders for the Dennis buildings, and he believes one or two vendors could provide estimates in a couple weeks.
Dion asked if this would put anything off. Dr. Curry says Metzger is very busy, but that he'll take care of it.
Ongoing Investigation
The reports from BFW and Klingner reference several cases of potential past repairs.
The 2013 HLS reports show some water damage and other issues.
I've requested repair records regarding both these items, but have not been able to obtain them yet. One FOIA request is under review.
I've also requested digital maintenance requests since 2017, documentation related to the last re-roofing project at Kaleidoscope/French, and communications regarding the 2013 surveys.
Responses are expected in mid to late August.
10-year Health/Life Safety Inspections
The Health/Life Safety inspections are separate from the district-wide analysis. The HLS surveys inspect a specific list of items required by Illinois State Law, and must be conducted every ten years.
The Board unanimously approved a $117,395 contract with BLDD Architects to conduct this year's inspections of 16 buildings (See Page 245).
For comparison, Bacon Farmer Workman's Proposal to inspect Dennis/Mosaic & French/Kaleidoscope was $19,000 total for both buildings. The District-wide analyses should be similar to these inspections.
Dr. Collins-Brown asked when the last 10-year inspection was, wanting to make sure this wasn't missed in a recent inspection.
The last surveys were conducted in 2013, which found some water damage and other problems, but did not detail the structural issues found this May. I've requested related repair records from the District, but have not been able to obtain them yet.
Reynolds was concerned about what happens in-between those 10-years, if a building has issues.
Dr. Curry said the Board can order inspections as often as they want, whether cost prohibitive or not.
There are also annual HLS inspections, which Wetzel asked about, but these address other safety concerns like exit signs and fire detectors, not structural issues.
See How is DPS61 building safety ensured for more information on HLS & copies of the 2023 annual reports.
Mold & Asbestos | OSHA Complaint
Board VP Jason Dion asked about the mold & asbestos at Dennis, which was a concern in a previous OSHA Complaint that halted the District's extraction of supplies from the Dennis buildings.
Buildings Director Kent Metzger says they corresponded with the Illinois Department of Labor in writing about their plan. He says there has been asbestos in the building for decades and it is only a problem when it becomes airborne.
Metzger adds that all buildings have mold, and it is only a problem when the airborne levels inside are higher than the outdoor levels.
He says an outside environmental consultant came in to do air sampling for mold & asbestos, using Transmission Electron Microscopy. He says "there's no appearance of any airborne asbestos" and the "concentrations of mold inside the building were lower than outside the building."
Metzger says IDOL found this satisfactory and considered the issue to be over. Clevenger advocated to "get that clarification out as widely distributed as we can so that people know that we have moved on these issues."