Municipal miscommunication: Chicago school closings included nine with fresh lighting upgrades

Chicago is looking to recoup its investment in energy-efficient lighting upgrades to public schools as part of a public-private partnership, including nine schools that were selected for closure shortly after the work was done, according to a story today in the Chicago Tribune. The lighting retrofits for 241 schools were approved last year and largely completed by March 21, the day the school board announced its list of schools to be closed. The city's Chicago Infrastructure Trust funded the relighting projects and still intends to recoup the $18 million investment, $296,790 of which was spent on the nine shuttered schools, according to the Tribune story.

New lights in shuttered Chicago schools, by Bill Ruthhart, Chicago Tribune

About the Author

Doug Chandler, Senior Staff Writer

Executive Editor

Doug Chandler began writing about the electrical industry in 1992, and still finds there's never a shortage of stories to be told. So he spends his days finding them and telling them. Educationally, he's a Jayhawk with an English degree. Outside of work, he can often be found banging drums or harvesting tomatoes.