Des Plaines school to open as scheduled

Classes will begin at Algonquin Middle School as scheduled on Monday, Aug. 23, Des Plaines Elementary District 62 officials announced late Wednesday.

The decision came after a walk-through inspection by representatives of the Regional Office of Education and the Des Plaines fire inspector Wednesday afternoon.

District 62 officials did not return calls requesting comment all day and could not be reached late Wednesday.

Classes will be held in the existing school even as construction work continues on renovations to the administrative office/reception area of the main building and an addition that were delayed by a three-week laborers' strike, the district said in a news release.

Officials have assured on-site workers will be screened and criminal background checks will be completed on all workers.

Students will likely find clean corridors and classrooms, but unfinished cement floors and missing ceiling tiles, officials have said.

Des Plaines Elementary District 62 officials and representatives of the district's construction management firm, Wight & Co., will lead a 45-minute tour of Algonquin School for the media at 7 a.m. Monday before classes start.

Had Algonquin not passed final inspection, district officials were considering two alternate sites - Des Plaines Park District's Prairie Lakes Community Center and Oakton Community College - to house the Des Plaines school's roughly 700 students.

Parking lots at the school still won't be ready for use. Buses will drop off students at the Algonquin Road stop, while the school's 70 staff members and visitors will have to use Trinity Lutheran Church's parking lot across the street.

Algonquin parents were notified late Wednesday night of the school's status through the district's AlertNow e-mail and phone messaging system. Letters are expected to be mailed out to parents Thursday morning with specifics about the logistics of transportation pickups and drop-offs, food service and extracurricular activities.