Wheeling High School storm damages could top $5M

WHEELING, Ill. (WLS) -- Last Friday's storms caused more than $5 million in damage to Wheeling High School in the northwest suburbs, and the repairs must be done immediately.

School officials say time is ticking, so they've requested an emergency school board meeting to approve the necessary funds. The damage has put a damper on school athletics.

At Wheeling High School, a Dumpster is full of gymnastics equipment, a broken light pole is replaced by a bucket and duct tape and a portion of the roof is ripped off. Last Friday's storm that knocked out power and took down tree branches came through Wheeling without any warning, leaving behind as much as $5 million in damage at Wheeling High School.

"It was right at dismissal, the school bell rang at 2:50, we lost power at 2:51. We helped our students inside," said Angie Ginnan, associate principal at Wheeling High School.

"Yeah, as soon as I went out from art, the lights went out and then it just, they didn't let us out after it all happened," said Matthew Killian, a student.

Most of the damage was to the school's field house, a huge gym that houses a track, basketball courts, a gymnastics area and a fitness center. There is so much damage inside, the field house is blocked off for construction- and blocked off for student use for quite some time.

"All our fall and winter athletic events will have to be relocated, the other schools in the district have reached out to help us as well as our district office," Ginnan said.

And gym classes will be moved as well. In order to replace the roof and repair the damage quickly, Northwest Suburban High School District 214 must waive the usual competitive bidding process. An emergency school board meeting is scheduled to approve funds so construction can begin as soon as possible.

"The normal process takes about six months, to design the project, to bid the project, to open the bids, get out to bid. This process bypasses many of those steps," said Ted Birren, director of operations for School District 214.

"It's an urgent matter, it's an emergency, our job is to educate kids and have a safe building, and so I think that's first and foremost," said Ginnan.

The emergency meeting is scheduled for Thursday morning at 7:15 a.m. If the board approves the funds, the money will come out of the district reserves, but they're likely to get reimbursed because the school has filed an insurance claim.