$6K-A-Day Elevator Operator Not So Much In Context: Official

LA GRANGE, IL – Lyons Township High School board members agreed Monday that they disliked paying a $6,000-a-day elevator operator for four days.

Taken in context, though, the total of $24,000 is not as much as it seems, one member said.

Such a bill would be a lot for a household's finances, but not a lot for a high school with a budget of more than $100 million, member Shawn Kennedy told his colleagues.

"$24,000 is a lot of money. On a percentage basis to a $100 million budget, it's not a lot of money," Kennedy said. "If this were a billion-dollar budget, we probably wouldn't even be talking about $24,000."

The board's president, Tim Albores, said he entirely agreed with Kennedy.

"Again, no one feels good about this because these are taxpayer dollars," he said.

Albores said he would like to have more of a conversation before going out to bid.

The board voted 6-1 to pay All-Types Elevators for the operator. Member Elias Lopez, who expressed concern about the bill earlier this month, dissented.

For the four days in August, the elevator operator made six times the pay of the school's highest-paid employee, Superintendent Brian Waterman.

Over the summer, All-Types installed a new elevator at North Campus, but the contractor failed the first inspection.

This was blamed on a fire alarm issue. The problem was that three alarm subcontractors were on campus on different campus projects, including the elevator.

Earlier this month, the school's architect said he was unable to identify the responsible contractor. His investigation involved reviewing security camera footage.

Because of an HVAC project, the school had moved furniture to lower floors over the summer. It needed to be returned before the first day of school.

By regulation, the school could only use the elevator if a certified operator was on hand. So the school agreed to pay for one while crews moved furniture to the upper floors.

The operator didn't actually operate the elevator, the architect said. The person sat in a room, ready in case of an emergency.