FAA pulls soundproofing money from Elk Grove
Students at Elk Grove High School can still hear the noise from planes when they are in class, and they'll hear it a while longer.
In 2005, Northwest Suburban High School District 214 was promised more than $10 million from the Federal Aviation Administration to soundproof the school, as part of the O'Hare Noise Compatibility Commission's insulation program.
Now, the FAA is reneging. The agency wrote District 214 a few weeks ago, saying the district is no longer eligible for soundproofing money because the runway opened in 2008 at O'Hare will create new flight patterns that push the noise away from Elk Grove High School.
District 214 Superintendent Dave Schuler, however, says the new routes won't take effect until 2014 or later, leaving the school to put up with the noise in the meantime.
Schuler added they had been waiting for the money so long they had to go ahead and fix the school's leaky roof - even though they tried to wait, knowing the roof would have to be torn up again for the soundproofing. Finally, they had to fix the roof last summer.
"When we thought we were going to get the money, we did not allocate funds for Elk Grove High School," Schuler said, "and that's why we had rooms that had water coming in in pails."
Raymond Kuper, chairman of the School Sound Insulation Committee, and Arlington Heights village president and ONCC Chairwoman Arlene Mulder are going to Washington, D.C., in December to try to regain support for the project.
The FAA also rescinded soundproofing money for Carpenter School in Park Ridge and continues its exclusion of Ridgewood High School in Norridge.
District 214 Board President William Dussling said Elk Grove High School is closer to the airport than some of the schools that have gotten funding.
He said if you draw a circle around O'Hare that extends to Elk Grove High School, you'll see there are schools outside the circle that have gotten the work done.
Dussling said what happens in Washington will determine the district's course of action.