D181 Considers Buying Generator After Monday's Storm

School may be out for summer, but the power needs to stay on at District 181 buildings—especially at one of them.

At Monday night’s board of education meeting, Community Consolidated School District 181 administration floated the idea of purchasing a new generator for after Monday morning’s storm knocked out power at the building, where the district’s servers are located.

Superintendant Dr. Renee Schuster said that after the severe storm that downed trees and power lines all over the area, administrators lost their lines of communication, and even their ability to print documents, at their offices.

According to Assistant Superintendant for Business Dr. Troy Whalen, Downers Grove South High School has a generator that’s currently sitting in the way of the school's expansion plan.

“They’re looking for someone to take it a way at a pretty good price,” Whalen said. “They’re willing to mark it down considerably.”

The price of the unit would be lower than a typical generator, which can cost around $100,000, but it would cost District 181 $150,000 to $250,000 to install the generator, Whalen said.

The generator would take up 24 square feet of space. Whalen said most of the district’s costs would be derived from installing a switchgear and wiring the generator to the building. 

The district was already considering the generator purchase for , which has a battery backup that needs costly maintenance every 10 years or so, according to Whalen. The assistant superintendant said the recent storms have led administration to believe backing up Hinsdale Middle School's power is a higher priority. 

District Technology Coordinator Eric Danley said the district typically only spends about one day per year without power, but Hinsdale Middle School tends to suffer from brownouts more often.

This year, Schuster said, the district already lost two and a half days to the June 21 storm and at least Monday from the latest storm.

Board member Brendan Heneghan said he loses power at his house once or twice per year.

“At the time it’s a personal pain in the neck,” Heneghan said, “but I would never consider spending my own money on a generator so I wouldn’t want to spend the district’s money on one either.”  

Schuster and Whalen both said the district is evaluating other solutions. Board president Michael Nelson said board members should bring alternative ideas to the next meeting, scheduled for Aug. 8, if they aren’t pleased with the prospect of purchasing the Downers Grove South generator.