District 128 reports summer capital projects progress; cafeteria suppression incident resolved

Facilities staff updated the Facilities & Finance Committee on progress and issues during the summer 2025 capital projects at district schools, including a resolved accidental discharge of a kitchen fire suppression system at Libertyville, new cafeteria furniture installation, bids for additional helical piers, and other trade work that may require night or weekend shifts.

Staff described an incident in which the fire suppression (hood) over a cooking apparatus in the kitchen activated and discharged; the discharge was confined to the kitchen area (not the student cafeteria). The kitchen was cleaned, inspected by public health, serviced, and reactivated; staff reported full service was restored by about 1:00 p.m. that same day. Staff said they pivoted to cold-service options and used other kitchen and food lab spaces to provide meals while cleanup occurred.

Flooring and new cafeteria furniture had been installed and staff set up temporary serving lines and overflow seating in the gym to accommodate students. Staff said the pool carpeting replacement at Vernon Hills looked good on inspection and thanked multiple building crews for weekend work to ready schools for opening.

On structural work, staff said bid openings for additional helical piers are scheduled and anticipated to be significant (staff declined to provide a firm number but said it will be under $100,000 and covered by contingency). Staff warned there could be additional smaller change orders in trades that, by law, require rebidding depending on the magnitude relative to original trade bids. Ceiling work scope changed and may require second-shift work; staff flagged potential premium time or weekend scheduling and committed to notify the board if substantial schedule or cost impacts arise.

Committee members praised staff responsiveness and asked to be notified promptly if additional large change orders are needed.