Lake Forest District 67 is spending $5.4 million this summer to improve security at its four schools and upgrade the Haskins Library at Deer Path Middle School.
The Board of Education approved projects on April 25 to reconfigure the entrances at Cherokee, Everett and Sheridan elementary schools and at Deer Path. The renovated entrances will offer multiple opportunities for school staff to see and interact with visitors, Superintendent Mike Simeck said.
“We’ll be able to see them outside and then come into the vestibule area and then into the office area before going into the rest of the building,” Simeck said.
That’s a change from the current entrances, where there are limited lines of sight to see who is entering the buildings, Simeck said.
“(Security) cameras are very different from looking out a window and being able to see a facial expression,” Simeck said. “Once (visitors) come in the door, they essentially have access to the entire building.”
“This project is all about safety,” said Mike Borkowski, president of the District 67 Board of Education.
Redoing the school entrances is one of several priorities that District 67 came up with during a vision process three years ago, Borkowski said.
“Over the last two years, we incorporated a new language arts curriculum and a new math curriculum,” Borkowski said. “We can only do one thing at a time. Now we’re taking a look at the buildings and the facilities as the next programs we want to focus on.”
Meanwhile, the almost 12,000-square foot Haskins Library on the west side of Deer Path Middle School will undergo a major upgrade.
Haskins will gain a “maker space – like a tinker space for kids,” Simeck said. Smaller spaces for individual and group work will be created and movable walls will be installed, Simeck said.
“As education has become much more interactive, much more small group work and partner work is being done,” Simeck said.
“Every single student will go through Haskins Center,” Borkowski said. “(The renovation) will encourage collaboration, creativity and engagement.”
Work on the security vestibules will take place over the summer while students are gone, Simeck said. Work on the Haskins Library might start sooner but is also scheduled to be completed before students return to Deer Path in the fall, Simeck said.
The district will sell $1.5 million in bonds for the projects, with the rest of the payment coming from savings in the district’s capital projects fund, said Jennifer Hermes, assistant superintendent of business services for District 67. The bonds will be paid back over a five-year period from the property tax levy and will not increase property taxes for homeowners, Hermes said.
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