Parents were called to pick up their children from a private Loop school after city inspectors closed it Wednesday for failing basic fire codes.
The closure came more than a year after the Fire Department first cited the Loop Lab School for lacking a centralized alarm system, an alarm box and illuminated exit signs. A Circuit Court judge had ordered the 22-year-old school to cease operations by last month.
But administrators at the Lab School, which has 150 pre-schoolers through 8th graders, said that they had done everything to comply, which, director Elmira Mayes said, is why the school continued operating.
“We’re not doing anything wrong,” Mayes said.
City inspectors, however, say that couldn’t be further from the truth. “Our opinion is that they haven’t responded at all. And not only that but they continue to operate the school in contempt of a court order,” Law Department spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle said.
Hoyle said the most flagrant violation is that the Lab School’s alarm system isn’t connected to the Fire Department, a requirement for schools.
Mayes said Wednesday night that she had paid the city $7,000 to install such a system, although she could not remember which department she made the check out to. And why, she asked, did fire officials refuse to acknowledge her payment?
Hoyle’s answer: “We don’t know what she’s talking about. We’ve checked with the Fire Department on this.”
The next step is a court appearance Thursday. A circuit judge will hear a motion on whether the school should be held in civil contempt.
Caught in the dispute are the parents, who pay $100 a week for their children to attend the school, 300 N. Michigan Ave.
Hoyle said many parents were surprised that the school wasn’t up to fire code, with many of them learning about it Wednesday. City inspectors stood by to make sure that all arriving students were turned away and watched as administrators called the parents of those who had been dropped off to come and pick them back up.
Mayes said she told parents to keep the students at home at least for Thursday. Hoyle said the city would reach out to parents about public schools and other information.
