Setting the record straight

Contrary to the assertion in last week’s opinion letter, “Correcting a misconception on OPRF’s pool process,” written by leaders of the pool lobby, the school board could have solved the pool problem three years ago if they had chosen the pragmatic plan recommended in the Stantec Report. It concluded that the existing East Pool could be renovated and its width expanded by removing a load-bearing wall, creating an eight-lane, 25-yard, standard-size, high school competition pool. This is essentially the same plan the school’s architectural firm, Legat, recently put forth, and the plan is called Option #2, the least expensive by half of the four prevailing pool options.

The vocal pool lobby clearly influenced the school board’s decision to shelve the pragmatic pool plan and pursue instead a much larger pool, even though the 2013 Stantec Report stated there was no space for it on the already confined campus without impacting other sports teams or required parking. 

In its natatorium proposal, presented to the board within days of the Stantec Report, the pool lobby pleaded with the school board not to choose the pragmatic pool plan and urged instead that they build a 50-meter pool on the site of the parking garage, regardless of its staggering cost and its severe and enduring impact on parking for the school, the neighborhood and the community. 

This is the plan the board chose last year and intended to build without seeking voter approval or funding authority. Repeatedly, the pool lobby pressured the school board to bypass voters on this massive project. It’s all recorded in meeting minutes, and it’s easy to connect the dots between the pool lobby’s actions, its natatorium proposal recommendation, and the actions of the school board. 

District 200 voters and the Petition for Referendum stopped the school board and its 50-meter, $37.5 million pool. If the school board had opted for the pragmatic pool plan in 2013, this unfortunate chapter in OPRF High School history would never have been written.

The pragmatic pool plan, now called Option #2, is contained within the school building and would not affect any other sports team or parking. Paying for the pool poses no issue. The school board could simply pay cash for this option, no referendum needed. After overtaxing taxpayers for a decade, the school board has amassed a cash reserve nearing $125 million. This, of course, is not how major, long-term capital projects should be financed. They should be fully funded with voter-approved bonds, to spread out the cost to those who would benefit from the expenditure. Regardless, in 2013 there was no barrier, financial or otherwise, preventing the school board from choosing the pragmatic pool plan.

Pragmatic solutions are optimal solutions. Every dollar saved on the construction and annual maintenance costs of a pool is a dollar that can be spent elsewhere, such as improving academic outcomes. 

The Achievement Gap remains an issue at OPRF, according to the Illinois State Report Card. Clearly, there’s work to be done.