Lyons Township High's Land Deal Strategy Revealed In Letter

LA GRANGE, IL – Lyons Township High School had hoped to get up to $4.3 million for seven acres in a deal with an elementary school district.

Last week, Patch obtained the high school's letter to the attorney general in response to a complaint that the school violated the open meetings law.

Although the letter contained redactions, Patch was able to read the redacted material after converting the document into a different format.

During the fall, the high school board voted to sell one acre of land in Willow Springs to Pleasantdale School District 107, which runs an elementary school next to the high school's 71 acres.

During a closed meeting earlier this summer, the board discussed a price for a seven-acre transaction.

According to a redacted part of the letter, the board's lawyer from the Hodges Loizzi law firm said the board was establishing a position for negotiations with Pleasantdale.

The board then considered a range of values between $1.1 million and $4.3 million for the parcel, ultimately landing on a "floor" price of $2.5 million, Hodges attorney Steven Richart wrote in the redacted portion.

But that price would be with a deed restriction limiting the use of the property for school purposes, Richart said.

"The Board evaluated the potential value of various locations on the Willow Springs property where the 7-acre parcel might be situated, as its precise location had yet to be determined," Richart said in the redacted portion.

On Aug. 10, the board discussed District 107's latest offer, which the letter did not reveal. The board agreed on a counteroffer without deed restrictions, Richart said.

In October, the board voted to sell a yet-to-be-surveyed acre to Pleasantdale for $320,000. With the $2.5 million floor for seven acres, the price would have worked out to $357,000 for one acre. (At that rate, all 71 acres would go for $25.3 million. The school has kept its 2024 appraisal secret.)

Around the same time, Pleasantdale's board voted to authorize the purchase of the one-acre parcel from the high school and two parcels from landowners near Pleasantdale Middle School.

The land is a combined five acres, with an official saying the board is looking to the future for possible expansions.

At one closed meeting, the high school board's device failed to record the discussion as required by law, according to the redacted part of the letter. The school immediately brought the matter to the attorney general's attention.

The recent complaint against the board alleged that the board violated the Open Meetings Act by discussing matters beyond the allowable secrecy of setting the price of real estate.

However, Richart contended that other issues were "intertwined" with the property's price and directly related to determining the price.

That was the same argument that Hodges' predecessor, Chicago-based Franczek, made in 2023.

In 2023 and 2024, the attorney general ruled that the high school board held 10 closed sessions on the Willow Springs land that violated the law. The board replaced Franczek with Hodges.

With the closed-door recordings released, the public discovered that the board strategized to keep its plan to sell its land to an industrial buyer secret for as long as possible.

That's because board members expected a backlash from neighbors. Their prediction proved true.

Now, the board says it will seek buyers who will follow Willow Springs zoning, which permits residential and small retail operations.