110 Illinois districts to receive $732 million for construction and renovation

Four Lake County school districts struggling with crowding learned Monday they will get $32 million in state grants to help finance multimillion-dollar building programs that include new schools, improved science labs and more classrooms. The districts in Antioch, Fox Lake, Libertyville and Gages Lake are among 110 in Illinois slated to receive more than $732 million in coming months to help pay for new schools or renovations.

As one of the fastest-growing school systems in Illinois, Huntley School District 158 certainly knows the value of building big. Enrollment at its five schools has increased more than 300 percent in the last seven years. Officials hope that $47 million worth of construction will be enough to accommodate them into the next decade. Huntley District 158 is one of several school districts across the northwest suburbs and McHenry County to get a share of the $732 million in state construction grants.