Oak Park D97 board advances 10‑year master facilities plan, approves roof and contracts; solar vendor recommended

At its April 14 meeting, the Oak Park Elementary School District 97 board considered several facilities and contract items and took votes on multiple motions.

Master facilities plan and 10‑year projection

A board member moved that the Oak Park Elementary School District 97 Board of Education approve a 10‑year master facilities plan for projects in an amount up to $92,000,000 (presentation cited draft dates of March 24 and April 14, 2026). The motion was seconded and the clerk called the roll; named members responded in the affirmative and the motion moved forward for action on the agenda. Staff said the approval would allow design work to begin for projects slated for 2027 and that funding options (10‑ or 15‑year phasing) would be returned to the board for decisions.

Julian Middle School roof

The board approved (motion and second on the record) awarding the Julian Middle School roofing project to Knickerbocker Roofing and Paving Company Incorporated in the amount of $1,269,000; the contract is included in the master facilities plan and will proceed as part of summer work plans.

Professional services and audit engagements

The board approved a professional services contract with Responsive Classroom for initial training (contract term cited through 02/26/27, with some costs offset by Title funds) and approved the engagement letter with Baker Tilly US LLP of Oak Brook, Illinois to perform the FY26 financial audit and single audit.

Solar project recommendation

Staff summarized a solar RFP process that produced five proposals and identified General Energy as the top‑ranked proposer with aggressive pricing (quoted at $2.09 per watt). Staff described estimated system size (~900 kW), estimated annual generation (~1,000 MWh), total project cost just under $1.83 million, a projected simple payback of about 4–4.5 years after incentives, and multiple incentives (a one‑time ComEd rebate, a federal tax incentive that was estimated at about 50% in staff scenarios, and state incentives paid over several years). Staff said contracts and structural analyses have been reviewed and that General Energy agreed to hold price for the smaller school add‑options. The board was told formal contract action on solar will be on the May 12 agenda.

Votes and roll call

The meeting transcript records motions, seconding and roll‑call affirmations on several items; some board members were noted as absent for particular votes. Where recorded by name on the roll call, members responded 'Yes' to motions for the master plan, roof contract and contracts cited during the meeting. Several items were scheduled for formal action at the May 12 meeting (notably the solar contract and K–5 curriculum adoption), while others (roof, responsive classroom, audit engagement) were approved at the meeting.

Next steps

Staff said they will bring back financing options and more detailed budget materials for the master facilities plan, finalize contract documents for approved projects, and present the solar contract and curriculum adoption for formal votes at the May 12 meeting.