La Salle-Peru High School approves new fundraising plan for $2 million agriculture building

La Salle-Peru High School may have a new agriculture building by the 2025-26 school year if the funding comes through.

The school board on Sept. 18 approved the capital improvement fundraising plan.

Superintendent Steven Wrobleski said the project is predominantly student driven, as about 30 students and their parents have expressed interest in an agriculture program.

“We had a vibrant ag program for decades at L-P,” he said. “And then somewhere 12 to 14 years ago it went defunct because of lack of student enrollment … but we have a really motivated group of kids right now.”

Wrobleski said the new building would be built across the street from the Area Career Center building at the corner of Creve Coeur and Sixth streets.

“We truly do not have the viable space to be able to have a full-scale ag program,” he said.

Wrobleski said the estimated cost of the project is about $2 million.

“This is strictly very, very rough numbers right now because we haven’t even gotten into the programming, but we’re looking more at the basis of what the square footage is going to be,” he said.

The school plans to enlist the community’s help in developing both the program and the design of the program to ensure the district is meeting community needs, Wrobleski said.

“I’m going to be scheduling a community-parent-student meeting for within the first two weeks of October,” he said. “There [are] two subcommittees I want to create. One is the curricular committee … [and] a second committee is going to be kind of the building committee.”

The students who are interested in the ag program will not need to wait until the building is completed. L-P has partnered with Illinois Valley Community College, and the college is developing hybrid classes to offer to students in the spring.

“We want to get kids in class as soon as possible,” Wrobleski said. “Then, in probably November/December, I’ll ask for board approval for me to post a full-time teacher position for the 2025-26 school year.”

Wrobleski said the goal is to secure a financial resource by the end of this school year or early summer with the hopes to break ground in the fall of next year.

“So, that way it will be ready to roll … maybe before the end of the 2025-26 school year, but certainly no later than the start of the 2026-27 school year,” he said.