Lake County Gazette

At its Feb. 6 board meeting, the Village of Arlington Board of Trustees welcomed the District 25 school board and district members as a part of the presentation on the Dryden Elementary School construction project. 

Ryan Schultz, the director of facilities and operations for the school district, presented the proposal to the board. This presentation was a result of the district’s plan to expand from its two half-day kindergarten programs to a full-day kindergarten program. This change was supported by parents and the community, and was a part of the district referendum that was already passed in an election. The change from a morning and afternoon half-day programs, which can essentially share one classroom between two classes, to all full-day classes, creates the need for new classrooms to accommodate the students.

“We had a lot of meetings on Dryden relative to stormwater detention,” Arlington Heights Community Development Director Charles Witherington-Perkins said. “Early on last year we were talking about the potential of a combined detention for the school district and the village because there’s some flooding in the area further to the west, especially Orchard and Beverly which is a very low spot. But the timing didn’t work out and that’s why the school district is moving forward with (the project) which has been reviewed by public works and engineering many times and they’re comfortable with the approach.”

The board uploaded a livestream of its public meeting to the village’s website.

Despite the project including an expansion and improvement of the stormwater and drainage systems, the board and members of the public expressed concerns about flooding issues that they have had in the neighborhood for more than 15 years. Residents say they are worried that the expansion and construction would decrease absorption and make matters worse. 

The board was told the village engineering department had reviewed the plans and felt confident that the project would not make the problem worse. 

The board voted to approve all the code changes required for the plan, including some setback variations, landscaping exemptions, and having a sport court in the side yard of the school.

The Dryden Elementary School would require an addition of four new classrooms and a gym expansion as a part of the project. The gym expansion is needed because the number of required instructional hours for students would bring multiple PE classes at the same time. The gym area is also used as a gathering space and lunch commons, the only school in the district to do so.

In other business, the board discussed a resolution regarding re-Harmony Fest.

The board will meet again at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Village Hall at 33 South Arlington Heights Road.