Crystal Lake-based School District 155 board to see Sage YMCA pool rental proposal

CRYSTAL LAKE – The Community High School District 155 board is expected to see a $45,850 swimming pool rental proposal at the next regular board meeting after negotiations with Crystal Lake's Sage YMCA of Metro Chicago, district officials said.

Director of Sage YMCA Robyn Ostrem said negotiations with District 155 began last year after the district opted to use different facilities for swim practices. The proposal, expected to go before the board Tuesday, would be for 2016-17.

Negotiations got the fee of $50 per lane per hour for Sage's new competition pool down 50 percent to $25 per lane per hour, District 155's Assistant Superintendent of Finance, Operations and Technology Jeremy Davis said. Both boys and girls teams would practice and hold a total of five meets at the Sage YMCA, per the proposal.

The price tag is based on the use of seven of the eight lanes from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. The available times, which are non-peak periods at the YMCA, would mean students who want to make the full practices would have to miss ninth period, Davis said. He added that parents at an April 4 meeting regarding pool facilities seemed amenable to the concept.

The district last summer moved its swim practices out of the Sage YMCA after the rental cost spiked. Instead, the Cary-Grove High School girls swim team practiced at Centegra Health Bridge Fitness Center in Crystal Lake. And the board approved a $16,000 contract with Woodstock High School, where the district-wide boys swim team and the district's girls co-op team, made up of female swimmers at the remaining three schools, has been bused for practices every day during their season. The five meets all were held at Sage.

According to figures from the district, the total estimated swim cost this school year was $43,040, including meets, pool rentals, and transportation to practices.

Davis acknowledged the more recent proposal would mean paying a higher amount, adding the "appeal of the venue" was something the district's swim community made known.

"[Sage YMCA] is a nice facility and the swim community seemed to want to end up there," he said.

Sage has its own swim team, which Ostrem said includes some of the District 155 students during their school's off season.

"The really important thing is the YMCA is a community destination and it's important, if we have four high schools here that don't have a pool, to try to work diligently to allow them to swim here," she said.

The girls swim season begins Aug. 10 and the boys team will start Nov. 21.

The District 155 School Board will meet at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.