Strike settlement eases crisis in Des Plaines schools

Des Plaines school officials who were fearful they would have to find classrooms for 2,000 students come fall, were relieved Tuesday when construction workers resumed work at four district schools.

However, District 62 officials still need to find a temporary home for 700 Algonquin Middle School students, whose school likely will not be ready to open Aug. 23, even though the strike that halted the projects is nearly resolved.

The $17 million addition and renovation project at Algonquin is part of the district's $109 million master plan for upgrades to be done over the next three years in all 13 buildings. The four schools under construction now are Algonquin and Chippewa middle schools, Cumberland and Forest elementary schools.

"It is just fabulous to see people working," District 62 Superintendent Jane Westerhold said Tuesday afternoon. "About 50 percent of workers at our job sites have returned."

Laborers and employers reached a tentative agreement on outstanding wages and benefits late Monday bringing an end to a three-weeklong strike that has delayed hundreds of regional and local road projects and school improvements throughout the Northwest suburbs.

Members of the Laborers' District Council of Chicago and Vicinity and the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 must ratify the deal this weekend.

District 62 lost 17 construction days. Of its four aging schools undergoing renovation, all of them are getting an internal overhaul and upgraded infrastructure - new heating and ventilation systems, fire alarms, sprinkler systems and lights, reconfiguring classrooms, painting and building additions.

Westerhold said the district's construction management firm and administration will meet with contractors starting Wednesday to get a better handle on the timeline for projects to be completed.

Westerhold said officials are anticipating Chippewa, Cumberland and Forest to be ready for start of school, but work may not be completed and the buildings may not be fully operational on Aug. 23.

"But they will be safe," Westerhold said. "Barring any unforeseen circumstances, we believe that we will be able to open (those) schools."

As for Algonquin, she said, "we're evaluating different learning spaces at Algonquin to see if there are portions of the building that can be used. It is a possibility. It's not a promise."