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Oak Park D97 approves insurance renewals, contracts and village request for pumping-station generator
Summary
The Oak Park D97 Board approved renewal of SELF and CLIC insurance contracts, authorized the Village of Oak Park to install an emergency generator at the North Pumping Station by Hatch Elementary, and approved grouped contracts exceeding $25,000 totaling roughly $2.2 million across student services, teaching and learning, and technology.
At its Aug. 13 meeting, the Oak Park Elementary School District 97 Board of Education approved several routine but budgetary-significant items including two insurance renewals, a village infrastructure request, and grouped contract renewals and approvals.
Insurance renewals. The board voted to renew its contract with the School Employees Loss Fund (SELF) for the 2024–25 school year at a premium of $518,460 and to renew coverage with the Collective Liability Insurance Cooperative (CLIC) at a premium of $377,536. No trustee votes against either renewal were recorded.
Village pumping-station generator. Representatives from the Village of Oak Park—John Holloman, senior director of buildings and grounds, and McKenna (identified in the meeting as both Phil and Bill McKenna at different points)—described a plan to add an emergency generator and concrete pad adjacent to the North Pumping Station at Hatch Elementary. The village said the pump station sits outside the school playground fence, that the village will cover project costs and provide insurance and maintenance for the new equipment, and that construction impacts to school operations will be limited (a short concrete pour and shallow excavation scheduled to avoid drop-off and pick-up). The board granted permission for the village to begin construction.
Contracts exceeding $25,000. District staff presented grouped contracts to approve new and renewal agreements in three categories: student services (out-of-district tuition and related placements) totaling $1,193,991.67; teaching and learning materials totaling $315,516.34; and technology contracts totaling $706,174.79. Staff explained the student-services line includes approximately $2.5 million in tuition obligations district-wide, of which roughly 80% is typically reimbursable, and described the need to contract with specialized providers for some students. Board members asked for clearer future breakdowns (new vs. renewal), a review cadence for renewals, and whether vendor comparisons took place; staff committed to return with more detail.
Votes at a glance: - SELF renewal (motion carried): premium $518,460; outcome: approved. - CLIC renewal (motion carried): premium $377,536; outcome: approved. - North Pumping Station generator (motion carried): village authorized to begin construction; outcome: approved. - Contracts > $25,000 (motion carried): student services $1,193,991.67; teaching & learning $315,516.34; technology $706,174.79; outcome: approved.
What’s next: Staff said they will supply more detailed contract breakdowns (new vs. renewal), calendar renewal timelines to allow earlier board review and vendor comparisons, and follow up with the village on documenting the historic agreement in county records.
