Lockport Township High School East Campus on Saturday, April 11, 2026 in Lockport. (Gary Middendorf)
The Lockport Township High School District 205 Board of Education voted Monday night to table a measure that would have begun the process of potentially installing solar panels in a field on the East Campus property.
The proposal was originally raised as a response to a 2024 request for the district to explore options for increasing revenue without raising taxes. The added revenue would go toward helping pay for future building improvements in the wake of the 2024 failed bond referendum meant to fund extensive renovations to Central Campus.
Superintendent Robert McBride explained to the board Monday that there are very few options available to school districts to raise revenue through non-tax options, and one of the most viable is through energy savings programs, which would include leasing property for solar power.
McBride noted that Huntley High School in McHenry County has successfully implemented a similar strategy, and one of the few other options is to raise student fees, something he said the administration did not feel was advisable.
Lockport Superintendent Dr. Robert McBride speaks at the reopening celebration of the Lockport High School Central Campus on Friday, August 16, 2024. (Gary Middendorf)
According to McBride, utilizing the property at the corner of Division Street and Farrell Road for a solar field would potentially give the district an income stream of $250,000 to $300,000 per year.
“As you can see looking at our budget, that is not a substantial amount of income,” McBride acknowledged, “but you could show that to lending institutions as a possible annual payment and get bonds for a future improvement project which the taxpayers would not have to pay for.”
Currently, none of District 205’s planned improvement projects would be dependent on this income stream or potentially large new bonds, but as more improvements or expansions are needed in the future, it could become a money-saving issue for district residents.
During his presentation to the board, McBride addressed several questions and concerns that had been raised by residents and board members about the proposal, which he noted would only give contractor ForeFront Power the green light to begin more detailed studies and surveying of the property.
One of the largest obstacles to the plan was going to be community zoning.
McBride explained that the district had first hoped to use its vacant property in Homer Glen on Cedar Road for the potential solar farm, since it is larger, more difficult to develop, and more removed from neighboring homes.
An aerial photo shows the solar panel field on the campus of Huntley High School in Huntley, one of three installed as part of Huntley School District 158’s switch to solar energy. (David Ganske)
“We began that process, but it didn’t go very far, because it became pretty clear from a municipal standpoint that the village of Homer Glen was not going to come alongside us for this,” McBride said.
With Homer Glen refusing to change zoning for the issue, the focus shifted to the East Campus property in Lockport. However, that too would require not just a change of zoning for the residential property, but also a complete rewrite of the city’s zoning code to even make a solar field an acceptable use within the area.
Currently, the city of Lockport has one solar field area in the city-owned STAR Innovation District, which was formerly owned by Chevron. The area being utilized for solar is a remediated industrial site which is virtually unusable for other development because of pollution issues, and is “not comparable” to the school’s property, according to McBride.
In his recommendation to table the issue, McBride noted that the process could be work-intensive and lengthy and that “I don’t think the city is ready to do this right now.”
Another concern was the length of the lease, which was proposed at 20 years, something board members said they were not comfortable with because of how much could change in that time.
McBride noted that it would be possible to have a shorter period, but that the contract would have to last at least five years in order to avoid tax penalties.
Concerns raised by residents during the public comment section of the meeting included potential drainage issues, which were a problem in the neighborhood after the expansion of East Campus in 1997.
Residents also raised potential costly legal battles with other residents over the installation being a nuisance, the potential future need for the property to expand the school again if the population increased or Central Campus became unusable from age, and the loss of the field as an athletic practice space.
One potential alternative raised by board member Tammy Hayes was the possibility of installing solar panels on the school roof instead of in the field. However, McBride said this option was not particularly feasible.
Due to the cost of roofing and the size of the school, roof replacements are often done in multi-year phases.
Only a small percentage of East Campus’ roof is currently stable enough and has a long enough life expectancy to accommodate the solar panels.
Since a large portion of the remaining roof will need to be replaced in pieces over the next eight years, the panels would likely need to be uninstalled and reinstalled each summer as the work commenced, the district said.
That would add expenses that would cut into the revenue stream and potentially damage the already repaired sections.
McBride noted that the entirety of Central Campus’ roof has been replaced in the last three years; however, he also said that with the age of the building and the recent repairs to the masonry, bolting panels to the new roof may not be something the board wanted to do.
Workers repairing the roof on the west side of LTHS Central Campus in July 2025. (Photo Provided by Lockport Township High School District 29)
“Roof panels are not really a solution for us at this time,” he said.
Another option McBride said was not economically feasible at this time was the installation of panels on parking lot carports, because the expense of building the structures would outweigh the profits the district could earn through the solar program.
Several board members, including Hayes, said they were open to exploring the idea of panels again in the future when technology or district and city circumstances had changed, but were not comfortable with the current proposal.
The board voted unanimously to table the motion indefinitely. It could be raised again and modified in the future if a board member chose to reintroduce it.
McBride said the administration will continue to explore other potential alternate revenue streams for the district.
Jessie has been reporting in Chicago and south suburban Will and Cook counties since 2011.

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