Cleaning up at Gurnee Grade School
With their building surrounded by sandbags and the swollen Des Plaines River lurking nearby, children won't lack for excitement when they start the new academic year today at Gurnee Grade School.
Gurnee Elementary District 56 Superintendent John Hutton said fire, police and other village officials have deemed the school safe. An environmental engineer also is making periodic inspections of the building, which houses the district's administrative offices.
"We would not open school or do anything to endanger the kids," Hutton said Monday.
About 410 pupils in kindergarten through eighth grade attend Gurnee Grade School on Kilbourne Road, just east of the river and north of Route 132. The students are scheduled for early release at 11:20 a.m. today.
Hutton said Gurnee Grade's upper level will be used, but not the basement for safety reasons. He said precautions have been taken so key exits are not surrounded by sandbags if an evacuation is necessary.
If significant rain hits and additional river flooding develops, Hutton said, he would have to decide whether to keep Gurnee Grade's doors closed at the last minute.
Hutton said the shortened school day would be canceled for the children instead of sending them elsewhere. He said District 56 has developed a plan on where to distribute Gurnee Grade's students in the event of a major Des Plaines River flood.
Acknowledging the water and sandbags around Gurnee Grade might be a distraction to education, Hutton said he expects everyone to do their best.
"I think it'll be difficult for the teachers and for the students to some extent," he said.
Gurnee Grade School's lower level and some other sections sustained flood damage in 2004, with repairs covered by an insurance carrier. The school is 100 yards or so from the Des Plaines River.
Gurnee Fire Chief Fred Friedl said the likelihood of rain this week in northeastern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin means sandbags should remain around the grade school and other buildings in the village's flood zone, despite slowly receding river levels Monday.
Flooding in Gurnee typically occurs in the original section of town east of Route 132 and Milwaukee Avenue. Old Grand Avenue, Kilbourne Road and Emerald Avenue are among the areas in the flood zone.