Rich East High School To Close Permanently In Park Forest

PARK FOREST, IL — Rich East High School in Park Forest will close at the end of this school year after the Rich Township High School District 227 board voted Tuesday to move forward with one of the consolidation plans it had been considering for the three schools in the district. The plan also calls for renovating both Rich Central and Rich South high schools.

All Rich East students will be moved into Rich Central or Rich South beginning in the 2020-2021 school year, according to the plan. Rich Central is in Olympia Fields and Rich South is in Richton Park.

The plan includes making one campus focused primarily on science, technology, engineering and math while the other would focus more on business, communication and the performing arts.

“It is never easy to talk about closing a school. However, we know that we must think about the future and remain focused on student achievement and academic growth,” District 227 board President Andrea Bonds said. “Our top priority is to allow the district to operate more efficiently while offering students more options and opportunities.”

District 227 Supt. Johnnie Thomas said the consolidation of the three campuses into two will allow the district to save "considerable costs."

“At a time of declining enrollment, we believe that investing now in our children, and our facilities, will encourage more families to choose Rich Township in the future,” Thomas said.

In a news release, the district said the Rich East campus could be turned into a regional vocational center.