Special ed facility OK'd amid dissent

Special Education District of Lake County won approval for a $26.5 million building project Wednesday night, but it didn't come without dissent.

Board members voted to authorize construction and to have Lake County school districts pay for it under a formula based on 70 percent property tax revenues and 30 percent usage of SEDOL's services. SEDOL's membership consists of 36 public school districts.

At the centerpiece of the project will be an $18 million classroom building for children with severe to profound disabilities, as well as the medically fragile, on SEDOL's Gages Lake campus just south of Gurnee. Plans call for construction to begin in spring 2009, with completion expected by fall 2010.

Proponents of SEDOL's three-year project contended it was necessary because of swift growth. They pointed to enrollment that's grown by more than 200 students in the past 10 years.

However, opponents questioned SEDOL's rush to gain formal approval to borrow $26.5 million and the lack of a financial breakdown on spending. Lake Zurich Unit District 95 and Mundelein High School District 120 were among the schools that wanted more time to study the issue.

SEDOL Superintendent Bill Delp said the building project is justified.

"We are hurting students by not offering programs," Delp said.

Elected officials at school districts serve on the SEDOL board. They voted 19-8 in favor, with one abstention, to pay for the $26.5 million project with 70 percent property tax revenue and 30 percent usage.

For example, the payment formula means Gurnee-based Woodland Elementary District 50 will pay $109,970 to SEDOL annually for the next 20 years. Lincolnshire-based Stevenson High School District will pay $205,283 for each of the next 20 years.

Member schools have the option of paying the bill in a lump sum or in fewer than 20 years.

After the funding sources, the board members approved borrowing the $26.5 million. That came in a 18-9 vote with one abstention.

SEDOL educates roughly 550 grade- and high-school pupils with learning disabilities at its Gages lake facilities. The agency also provides services to 800 additional students enrolled in special education classes at Lake County public schools.

Unlike typical school districts, SEDOL does not have to seek voter approval to borrow for a major construction project.

Instead, SEDOL's board of directors -- made up of one elected school board member from the school districts that belong to the agency -- voted on the plan at Wednesday night's meeting.