Results tagged “looplabschool”

The saga of the Loop Lab school looks like it may be solved. And it doesn't look good for the state getting it's money back in spite of an earlier ruling. If you remember, then-governor Blagojevich intended for the money to go to the recently burned down Pilgrim Baptist Church but it seems he mistakenly promised it to Elmira Mayes, who was then leading the Loop Lab School which had been renting space at the church at the time of the fire. After a lot of confusion, the school took the money to buy a new space downtown but then flipped the property. Even shadier, the school's leader, Chandra Gill, had been the recipient of a Blago pardon. Lisa Madigan eventually sued the school and the school eventually agreed to repay the state. But an audit by the Illinois Auditor General's office shows that it's very unlikely the state will see that money, calling out the Blago administration for "a lack of due diligence" on its "bureaucratic mistake."

Earlier, we mentioned today's hearing for the Loop Lab School over the controversial $1 million grant they received by mistake from then-governor Blagojevich. At the hearing, the school agreed to repay the $1 million it had received. School head Chandra Gill said today, "I was only interested in continuing the education of our children. The allegations are what they are. My intent was not to fight that.”

Finally, a hearing has been set in the case of the Loop Lab School, which may find itself having to pay back $1 million in grant money in may or may not have been given by mistake. Way back in '06, after Pilgrim Baptist Church burned down, then-governor Rod Blagojevich claimed he pledged the cool million to the church to help rebuild. At the time, the Loop Lab school was renting space in the church and burned along with it. But then-leader of the school, Elmira Mayes, claims Blago made the promise to her. To add another layer of intrigue, the school's current leader, Chandra Gill, was the recipient of a Blago pardon.

Governor Blagojevich is in hot water over what he deems a "bureaucratic" mistake which gave a school $1 million dollars intended for a historic, burned-down church. In the midst of his re-election campaign, Blago pledged to give $1 million to Pilgrim Baptist Church, which was destroyed by a January 2006 fire. At the time, the Loop Lab School was renting space in the church and now, Elmira Mayes, leader of the school, is contradicting Blago's claim of a mistake, saying he personally promised her money for the school.

Mayes said the governor visited the fire site and talked with her as she was sifting through debris from her burned-out school, which had rented space from the church. She did not recall the governor's exact words but "he told me he would help build the school and give $1 million."

The school has sent relocated to a new condo across the street from the Sears Towers but has yet to reopen. Spokesmen for the governor insist there was confusion about the church's relationship to the school, but Chandra Gill, a relative of Mayes' who is now running the school, disagrees. "He knew she wasn't the preacher. We are grateful and thankful. We did everything we were supposed to do with the million dollars. It was a great investment."

The Illinois House voted 105-0 yesterday to order the chief auditor to investigate how the Blagojevich administration apparently gave $1 million to the wrong organization. Instead of going to the Pilgrim Baptist Church to help rebuild their school after a fire, the money went to Loop Lab School, which had been using Pilgrim Baptist facilities before the fire but isn't affiliated with the church.