Community High School District 128

Oct. 21 Update

D128 has received, reviewed and signed stipulated settlement agreements from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) for the Libertyville (LHS) and Vernon Hills High School (VHHS) swimming pools.  As such, the LHS and VHHS pools will be open for use again today after school.  Pool users will receive information through their athletic directors, coaches and/or organization today regarding practice and competition schedules.

The stipulated agreements allow D128 to use the LHS and VHHS pools while working with IDPH to gain compliance plan approval to conduct required repairs and pass necessary inspections prior to June 1, 2012.  The D128 Board of Education and Superintendent, Dr. Prentiss Lea, are committed to working with IDPH to bring the LHS and VHHS pools into compliance prior to the June 1, 2012 deadline.

A special thanks to Mundelein and Stevenson high schools for making their very busy swimming pools available to our students while our pools were closed. We greatly appreciated their efforts to accommodate the LHS and VHHS swimming programs during our time of need. 

And, thank you again for your assistance, patience and support throughout this challenging process.  We are very appreciative of your collective efforts in working with us toward both a temporary resolution and permanent solution to the swimming pool compliance problem.

Oct. 14 Update 

IDPH legal counsel has informed D128 legal counsel that the IDPH office is working diligently on settlement (stipulated) agreements for eligible swimming facilities.  As you recall, settlement agreements are legally binding agreements agreed to in lieu of administrative hearings and other due process rights. In addition, IDPH has informed us that the LHS and VHHS pools are both eligible for settlement agreements. IDPH will follow established protocol in executing settlement agreements for eligible swimming facilities. When we receive potential settlement agreements for our pools, D128 legal counsel, administration and/or Board will review and act on those agreements as warranted. 

We are greatly appreciative that you continue to refrain from contacting IDPH directly. Please continue to allow D128 legal counsel to act as our contact with IDPH, so that IDPH personnel may address our request (and the requests of others) for a settlement agreement and our compliance plan (and the plans of others).

As always, thanks for your support!

Oct. 11 Update

Revised LHS and VHHS swimming pool compliance plans and the required properly executed permit applications with Dr. Lea’s signatures were hand-delivered to IDPH by the D128 engineering firm, Fanning & Howey.  IDPH provided the D128 engineer who delivered the plans and application permits with a written receipt.  In addition, IDPH also acknowledged receipt of same to Dr. Lea via e-mail.  As a reminder, the review of our compliance plans is subject to the established IDPH protocol.

Again, we respectfully request that you refrain from contacting IDPH directly.  At this point, D128 legal counsel is acting as the primary contact with IDPH legal counsel, and we want to provide the IDPH engineering staff with the time necessary to assess our plan (and the plans of others).

As always, thanks for your assistance and support!

Oct. 6 Update

D128 legal counsel has been in contact with IDPH legal counsel, and our counsel believes that IDPH counsel is working in full good faith to assist D128 with the process.  IDPH counsel has advised us that IDPH will consider alternative agreements, such as the Springfield YMCA agreement, in lieu of the administrative hearing process, for pool operators on a case-by-case basis. This is largely dependent upon where the pool operator is at in the compliance process.

To initiate the alternative agreement process, pool operators must first file required documents to request an administrative hearing.  The D128 administrative hearing request has been filed. In addition, pool operators must submit valid application permits and compliance plans.  As noted last week, the D128 revised valid application permits and compliance plan, reflecting the specific feedback and required engineering studies that were indicated at our September 26th meeting with IDPH officials, should arrive at IDPH offices on Tuesday (IDPH offices are closed on Monday for the Columbus Day Holiday).  Once the D128 compliance plan achieves formatting approval, the compliance plan will receive a case number and enter the thorough review process queue.  D128 legal counsel has indicated that at that point, they will have the opportunity to initiate a discussion regarding a possible alternative agreement with IDPH counsel in lieu of an administrative hearing. While we have reiterated our commitment to meet required IDPH compliance standards, and IDPH has acknowledged our commitment to do so, and D128 and IDPH have committed to working together through the process now available to all pool operators, the timeline for that process is subject to IDPH review protocol.  D128 counsel will remain in close contact with IDPH counsel in the coming days to ensure that we can move toward an alternative agreement or redress through the administrative hearing process as soon as possible.

Although many of you have contacted IDPH over the past few days on our collective behalf, at this point, we are requesting that you refrain from calling IDPH.  D128 counsel will serve as the primary contact with IDPH in the coming days, and we would like IDPH staff to have the time to do the work necessary on our compliance plan to bring this matter to closure and allow full use of our pools.

Again, thanks for your assistance and support… You are appreciated!

Oct. 5 Evening Update:

This morning, we learned that IDPH allowed the Springfield YMCA to reopen its pools, and granted them an extension on completing necessary compliance work. (See today's earlier update below for the complete article from the State Journal-Register.)  Our attorneys continue to contact IDPH General Counsel in Springfield to ask the following questions, among others:

1) Why were we (and all other non-compliant pool operators) not informed that an extension process was available?

2) What is involved in the extension process?

3) Will we forfeit any legal due process rights in the extension process?

4) What do we need to do to initiate and complete the extension process?

Superintendent Lea will follow-up with district counsel as this possibility takes shape.

Superintendent Lea has contacted all public and private suburban high schools on the non-compliance list. He will facilitate a conference call with most of those Superintendents on Friday morning to determine how affected districts can best work together to leverage their collective resources (legal, legislative, administrative and parental) to ensure that an extension is granted.
Now that our pools have been legally shut down, the district has legal due process rights.  The first due process step in this situation is an administrative hearing with an administrative hearing officer to make the case for “why our pools should not be shut down.” Our goal is to be the first, or one of the first, petitioners for the administrative due process hearing.  As such, our legal counsel filed the necessary paperwork for an administrative due process hearing today. Because of our sustained work and knowledge gained on this issue over the past few weeks, we are well positioned to present an excellent defense on our behalf. Additional due process steps available to us beyond the administrative process, if we do not prevail at that level, are through the judicial system. As always, we will take advantage of every legal avenue available to us to gain an extension to allow the district additional time to meet compliance, thus allowing our students and community immediate use of our pools.

WGN-TV News was in the District this afternoon. They aired a segment at 5:00 and will air a more extensive segment on tonight's 9:00 news regarding granting an extension to the Springfield YMCA and the relation of that extension to our situation (and to the situation of others). Several D128 administrators, parents, coaches and students were interviewed for the story. Also this afternoon, the District was contacted by the Springfield State Journal-Register, which broke the Springfield YMCA story. Superintendent Lea was interviewed for an extended period of time by reporter Dean Olson.

We will update this site as new information becomes available. Please feel free to "like" us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, where we will post the same information as we put on the websites. (See the bottom of this page for the District's Facebook and Twitter links.)

We have been informed that many of you contacted IDPH and/or the Governors Office today.  As always, thanks for your assistance and support . . . You are amazing.

Oct. 5 Update

The Springfield YMCA has re-opened its pools and has received an extension from IDPH. Read more in the Springfield Journal-Register.

An update regarding D128 pool closures will be posted later today.

Sept. 30 Update 

Lake County News Sun

http://newssun.suntimes.com/sports/7948383-419/nsc-teams-pool-resources-to-help-cats-and-cougars.html

ABC 7 News

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/video?id=8374548&pid=8374076

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) recently recognized Community High School District 128 for financial excellence. The 2011 School District Financial Profile, based on the 2010 school year financial data, places District 128 within the Financial Recognition range. This is the highest category obtainable for the School District Financial Profile.