Lyons Township High Vows 'Transparent' Land Sale

LA GRANGE, IL – The Lyons Township High School board on Wednesday pledged a "transparent" and "thoughtful" process in its second try to sell the school's land in Willow Springs.

This would be a far cry from the board's secrecy more than two years ago.

In a news release, the board said it would continue discussions at its meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday in the board's chambers. Residents can also watch the meeting online.

The board wants to sell its 70 acres in Willow Springs. It bought the site more than six decades ago for a third campus. But enrollment failed to increase as expected, so the expansion became unnecessary.

The proceeds from the land sale could support building improvements at the school's two campuses, officials say.

Over the last year, school officials have met with representatives of the village of Willow Springs, the Pleasant Dale Park District and Pleasantdale School District 107.

Also, the school has invited the park district to consider a land swap. The park district owns seven acres next to the school's land, and school officials believe a swap would make the school's site more rectangular and thus more attractive to buyers.

In recent months, the school board has held closed meetings about the land. Members can only shut the doors to discuss setting the property's price.

In 2022 and early 2023, the board met repeatedly behind closed doors about the Willow Springs property, which is next to houses and an elementary school.

But members talked about issues far beyond setting the price, violating the state's open meetings law.

Their secret goal was to sell the land to an industrial developer, but Willow Springs zoning rules banned industrial uses in that area.

Some of the closed meetings were to strategize about how to keep the plan secret from the elementary school and other public bodies for as long as possible.

In January 2023, two industrial developers bid on the land. In the following weeks, the public learned that the board priced the land for industrial uses.

Neighbors and other public bodies protested, prompting the board to abandon its plan shortly before a board election. Residents filed a complaint with the attorney general, alleging the board broke the Open Meetings Act.

In spring 2023, the attorney general agreed and ordered the school to release two recordings. A year later, the agency requested the release of all the others. The school board did.

The board's latest news release mentioned nothing about the previous controversies. Two of the board's seven members, Kari Dillon and Jill Beda Daniels, were on the board during the previous attempt to sell the land.

The board blamed its attorney for the Open Meetings Act violations. The members had all taken the state-mandated open meetings training.