Oak Park and River Forest High School plans to move forward with Project 2, the renovation of the school’s athletic facilities. The $102 million price tag for Project 2 has raised questions about how the school will foot the bill.

Some ideas floated by the community include a bake sale, abolishing the arts department and leasing out empty classrooms on AirBnB.

A group of concerned taxpayers has a foolproof plan to cut labor costs on the project: a student draft. Students with unweighted GPAs lower than 2.5 will be entered into a labor lottery, with draftees being randomly decided every Friday morning by date of birth.

Oak Park resident Eric Cosmopolis is a major supporter of the draft. “I already pay a ridiculous amount of money just to live here, and I don’t even have kids who go to OPRF. If you want a better building, pick up a shovel and do it yourself, but leave my money out of it,” he said. In an angry shout, he added, “Put the kids to work!”

The spending on a new pool is one of the most controversial aspects of Project 2, with supporters arguing that the 1928 pools have fallen into serious disrepair and need immediate attention. Not everyone agrees. River Forest resident Michalina Konstancja said, “Spending $28 million on a new pool is ridiculous. You can buy an inflatable pool from Costco for less than $40. I think it would be better to buy a couple of these and sew them together. What difference does it really make anyway? A pool is a pool.”

OPRF senior Chris Carasco was drafted last week, and will begin his construction duties on April 12.

Carasco has expressed concern about the project. “I really don’t know anything about construction. I mean, I flunked out of my engineering class. It’s kind of ironic really.”

However, the labor draft also has some ardent supporters, including members of the student body. OPRF Junior Jonathan Wilderberry volunteered for the construction project, citing a desire to get out of calculus class. “I really cannot stand calculus. I would most definitely rather do hours of manual labor than find another integral. I really hate calculus.”

Parents have also weighed in the prospects of their children being drafted. One local parent whose son was drafted is quite pleased with the situation. “My son finally has a job. Before the draft, all he did was hang out with his friends, volunteer at the local homeless shelter and try to improve his poor grades. Now he’s doing something that really matters,” said Oak Park resident Alicia Smith.

In response to the controversy, the administration has defended the labor draft. One administrator noted, “While it’s regrettable that we have to draft students to work on the school, the labor surplus has allowed us to complete Project 2 without raising taxes, which is the most ideal result.”

Project 2 is doing more than renovating the pool and facilities, adding new resources and improvements all around the school. Some of the additions include a life size solid gold statue of Ernest Hemmingway, a dozen brand new 86 inch 4k Ultra HD LG flat screen TVs, which will be used to display the lunchroom menus, and a few extra garbage cans for the arts classrooms.