Safety concerns halt Dist. 211 student house project

Safety concerns have prompted the village of Palatine to shut down a construction site where more than 100 Schaumburg High School students were building a home.

The students are enrolled in a construction class in which they, assisted by professional contractors, build a home to be placed on the market. They've been working since August on a two-story house at 40 E. Michigan Ave.

But Wednesday, they were greeted by a work-stop order issued by the village of Palatine. The village and ComEd officials were concerned about overhead power lines being too close to the house and endangering the students.

"We got to the site and (saw) a red sheet of paper on the garage wall," Schaumburg High senior Stephen Dalka said. "It said if you touch anything, you'll be arrested."

Both village and Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 officials said the stop-work order was made Monday, more than two months after students started the work. School was not in session Monday or Tuesday.

Palatine officials say a building needs to be at least 9 feet from a power line, depending on the voltage. In this case, the power lines almost touch a house wall that was just put up. Dalka said his classmates didn't notice them until they poured the foundation.

Thursday, Schaumburg High Principal Tim Little sent a letter home with students in the program explaining the work shutdown. It states that teacher William Fraser first raised concerns back in September about how the power lines were leaning toward the house site.

But neither school nor village officials explained why it was several more weeks before the site was shut down. Little's letter says ComEd evaluated the site in mid-October, and ComEd spokesman Luis Diaz-Perez confirmed the issue was brought to the power company's attention last month.

Fraser did not return a phone call seeking comment.

District 211 Superintendent-elect Nancy Robb said the district is working with ComEd, the village and even OSHA to figure out a way to get construction going again.

The district has proposed having professional contractors do the roofing and build a barricade between the power lines and the house, allowing the students to work inside the house. She hopes a plan can be approved next week.

"Our No.-1 priority is to ensure safety for the students," Robb said.

If ComEd or the village rejects the proposal, Robb said the students would be found work elsewhere. Options including demolishing a home in Elgin and building a concession stand at Conant High School in Hoffman Estates.

Those compromises aren't too appeasing for Dalka, who's already upset that the students have in the meantime been relegated to doing cleanup work at the site.

"It's not the same. It's not why I'm in the class. We don't get to build a home," he said. "We're pretty bummed."