Schools

Anonymous Donation to Buy Equipment for Long Beach Classrooms

An unnamed donor has given $5,000 to Long Beach Elementary School in Boulder Hill, to buy digital overhead projectors. District 308 parent Russ Harrison helped make the deal happen.

Thanks to an anonymous donation, all of the classrooms at in Boulder Hill will soon be outfitted with digital overhead projectors.

The $5,000 check was presented to Long Beach’s Home and School group last week, according to Russ Harrison, who helped make the donation possible. Harrison, the father of four children in the Oswego School District, said he was tired of waiting on the state of Illinois to pay the money owed the schools.

So he and his wife Christa started talking to friends of theirs looking to make a donation. The actual donors wish to remain anonymous, Harrison said, but his company, Harrison Architectural Support Services, will donate the cost of installation of the new projectors.

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According to Principal Kevin Lipke, the devices will allow teachers to plug in computers and project their output onto a screen. Lipke said the school is grateful for this donation, especially since the state of Illinois has not been timely with paying its bills.

The state owes more than $1 billion to local school districts, which Lipke called “irresponsible.”  

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“We’ll take any donation we can get,” Lipke said.

Harrison said he hopes this donation encourages others like it, from private citizens. He said he’s tired of the backstabbing going on in the district, and doesn’t want to see the school have to wait for the state to pay its share.

“We are doing this to once again demonstrate that we, as parents, are not waiting helplessly for the State of Illinois to cough up the funds,” Harrison said. “Nor are we in favor of increasing taxes to secure equipment that, while very beneficial to teaching, is not deemed as essential.”


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