A plan to add a temporary mobile classroom building on the grounds of Field School in Park Ridge next spring hit a snag with the Park Ridge City Council this month.
Elected officials, concerned that Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 had not formally notified neighboring residents of plans for the two-classroom mobile unit, voted to defer zoning approval for the structure on Dec. 6.
The council plans to take up the matter again on Jan. 18.
District 64 is looking to place a modular classroom unit at one of three potential locations on the Field School campus in order for construction to begin on a portion of the school building in March. The construction is part of a multi-million-dollar plan to offer full-day kindergarten at each of the district’s five elementary schools. Work at Field School will require demolition of a part of the building, according to district officials.
Officials said the two-classroom mobile unit will be used from March until the end of the school year in early June. Superintendent Eric Olson said it will house two classes containing approximately 40 students.
Two of the district’s “best” locations for the unit are in the school’s parking lot, according to a letter to the City Council.
Members of the Park Ridge City Council said neighbors of the school should be formally told of the plans so they can provide feedback before the district is given zoning approval to add the temporary structures.
“Why didn’t you think you had to notify the neighbors that this was part of the plan before it got here for a vote?” Mayor Marty Maloney questioned District 64’s Chief School Business Official Adam Parisi during the council’s Dec. 6 meeting.
“We have every intention of communicating to the residents and the homeowners of what is going to happen,” Parisi said, adding that this had not yet been done because the District 64 School Board had not taken formal action to approve a lease agreement for the classrooms.
That vote had been slated for the school board’s Dec. 16 meeting.
“Once that is approved, we will move forward and communicate to the community members,” Parisi said.
“And not let them have a say in the process as it’s unfolding,” interjected 1st Ward Ald. John Moran, who represents the ward in which Field School is located and has children who attend the school.
City Attorney Adam Simon noted that the city’s zoning laws do not require a public hearing or neighbor notification for this particular request because the mobile classrooms are temporary uses on the property. Parisi said the classrooms would be used from March through the end of the school year in early June.
Still, elected officials insisted that the district formally communicate its plans through mailings or signage. Moran suggested the city treat the request as it would any public hearing on a zoning matter and require the school district to notify neighbors, but Simon said there is nothing in the city’s zoning ordinance that says this must be done.
“You can encourage the applicant to have public outreach, but it’s not a condition of approval,” Simon said.
Maloney added that if District 64 wants City Council approval to use the mobile classrooms, “you’re going to have to do more than what is required from you.”
– Original Credit: School District 64
While the city’s elected officials inferred that there had been no communication from the district on its plans for the mobile classrooms, the plans were publicly discussed during the school board’s Nov. 18 meeting. The discussion also included plans for a four-classroom mobile unit at Jefferson School in Niles and was reported on by Pioneer Press.
Parisi said delaying zoning approval until mid-January would delay the signing of the lease for the classrooms and push back the construction project itself.
“I understand the council’s perspective, but there are definitely concerns about delays,” Parisi said.
Olson on Dec. 8 said district officials “have started talking about next steps we need to take in order to get the city’s approval,” but no decisions had been made. Providing formal notice to neighbors is being discussed, he said.
Sixth Ward Ald. Rick Biagi, a former member of the District 64 School Board, said past consideration of temporary classrooms on a school property had generated objections from community members who viewed the structures as a “huge eyesore” and expressed concerns about student safety.
The mobile classroom units at Field and Jefferson will cost approximately $30,000, plus $160,000 for delivery, installation, electricity and engineering work for the mobile classrooms, Parisi told the District 64 School Board in November.
Olson said any parents who have concerns or questions about the temporary mobile classrooms planned for Field and Jefferson should contact him. As of Dec. 8, no parents had yet expressed any concerns, he said.
