Water 'Infiltration' At Elmhurst School; Fix Planned

ELMHURST, IL – Heavy rains in August revealed a drainage problem at one of Elmhurst's public schools.

"We've experienced water infiltration at Sandburg Middle School," Joe Blomquist, Elmhurst District 205's assistant superintendent of finance, told the school board's finance committee last week.

The problem occurred on the first floor, and the district has likely found the source, he said.

The district plans to fix the problem, which has been identified as an aging drainage system.

It is also set on dealing with a roof issue at York High School, exploring a partial or full replacement.

"I feel like a lot of times weather events point out some needs," Blomquist said. "We had some high winds in the spring, and that helped identify the needs at Building B at York."

Board member Courtenae Trautmann said she appreciated the district pushing permanent fixes to the issues.

"We spent a lot of years putting Band-Aids on problems, and we don't want to go back to that," he said.

Trautmann was likely referring to the time before the 2018 referendum. That was when voters approved the district going into debt by $168 million for building projects across the district, including the replacement of two elementary schools.