Parents, students urge district to restore RISE Aquatics access to Vernon Hills pool

Two public commenters told the Community High School District 128 Program and Personnel Committee on May 12 that they want RISE Aquatics to regain access to Vernon Hills High School’s pool and that the club’s absence has harmed the high school swim program.

"My name is Nate Blackmer. I have 3 3 children. My oldest graduated from Vernon Hills High School last year," said a parent who signed up to speak and identified himself at the podium, asking the district to consider restoring the previous pool-sharing arrangement. He said Vernon Hills High School’s aquatic facility "is in need of some updating" and thanked the board for prior approvals to address facility work.

The parent also asked the district to consider allowing Bridal/RISE Aquatics to resume use of the Vernon Hills pool, saying the program had donated equipment to Libertyville High School and could provide similar support to Vernon Hills.

Jack Jansen, a freshman swimmer at Vernon Hills High School, told the committee he began in RISE (formerly Katz) in 2018 and said the club practiced at both Libertyville and Vernon Hills until 2021. "That fall, RISE was limited to LHS only," he said. He described effects on the high school program: unreliable timing equipment at Vernon Hills meets and declining numbers of trained incoming swimmers. "RISE has had to turn away over 100 swimmers in the past 3 years due to a lack of space," Jansen said, and he argued that losing the partnership reduces the pipeline of athletes to the VHHS team.

Brian McDonald, speaking for district administration, told the committee the agreement with RISE is a yearly intergovernmental facility-use and program agreement that currently lists Libertyville High School as the primary site for RISE. He explained the district also has an intergovernmental agreement with the Vernon Hills Park District that includes reciprocal priority for some facilities and community programs, and that arrangement has shaped how pool-time priority is assigned.

Board member West Poland asked why the Vernon Hills Park District is prioritized in the agreement's priority list over district-sponsored and feeder programs that serve the entire district. Brian McDonald said the priority reflects an existing intergovernmental agreement that gives Vernon Hills Park District some priority for classroom and community programs in return for park-district use of district facilities.

Poland asked the administration to provide rosters and a breakdown of how many athletes move from the park-district "Turtles" program and from RISE into Vernon Hills High School programs. McDonald said he would work with John Woods and others to provide that information.

The district indicated the RISE agreement and the intergovernmental priorities will be presented as an action item at an upcoming board meeting. No formal change to the agreement was made at the committee meeting.

The committee also discussed why the RISE facility-use item was on the Program and Personnel Committee rather than the Facilities and Finance Committee: administration said the agreement covers programmatic aspects (athletics and program support) as well as facility rental, which places it within program oversight.

The committee did not take a vote on the RISE agreement at the May 12 committee meeting; the item was described as a yearly agreement that will appear on the full board agenda as an action item.