Doughboy

Great post. I couldn't agree more. The public was led to believe Neuqua and Waubonsie were terribly crowded when in fact there is no problem in terms of overcrowding. No, they are not small schools but they are not in as dire shape in terms of capacity as we were led to believe when we coughed up $124.7 million. Hallways are managable, lunchroom has plenty of seats, kids can get into whatever classes they want.

The voters of 204 were sold a bunch of nonsense about overcrowding at the high school level. Middle schools, however in my opinion are very crowded and more space is needed.

Ironically, by the time they figure out the whole Metea Valley situation, the enrollment at the middle schools will be on the decrease. The kids stuffed in the overcrowded schools (Scullen) will be the ones that will suffer again with a bad decision on the high school site. What a shame.

My best guess is that the SB/District will announce within the next few weeks the Metea site will be on the northern end of the district.

What nonsense. 68% of the elementary kids in 204 reside south of 75th. How can it make sense to build a third school as far north as Eola and Molitor?

Is this a reasonable decision for the SB to make? How can we ever know. No public comment, no chance to hear criteria available. It's just give us your dough. We know better than you do. What a shame.

Why would the SB make such an unwise decision as to locate as far north as that? I bet the district's enrollment will drastically decrease. I know I'll be looking into private school for my kids and know many others that will do the same. I'd move, but we can't take the hit on our property values.

Tsk, tsk Dough Boy, methinks you’re a little harsh. Do you not realize that all of this is for the little chillin’? Are you suggesting that all these chillin’ continue to be subjected to the inadequacies of Neuqua Valley for even one more day? Have you forgotten about the importance of increasing SD property values at any cost? You do understand that being able to afford to remain in your home is merely a secondary consideration don’t you?

First, where is the leadership of Superintendent Daeschner? Two of his most notable accomplishments in Louisville include both a major expansion of the preschool program, introducing full-day kindergarten, and his spearheading the construction of eight new schools. Huh? Just how much is Superintendent Daeschner getting paid? Ah, just as importantly, WHY?

Second, of the many points Dough Boy made, the most important one to me is how this SB got there. The 2005 election, the one in which the “voters” selected President Metzger, had a whopping 23% participation! Please allow me to restate that – a 23% ELECTORATE TURNOUT! Hey, how do you, the 77% that just sat on your butt and thought the election of the school board, the one controlling approximately 50% of your real estate tax bill, was too much a bother feel now? I hope that now, having seen the results of your obscene apathy, that the 77% too lazy to participate feel real STUPID!

Dough Boy, I can’t comment of the halls being blocked (the SB did admit, subsequent to the approval of a new “peacock” school, that the Neuqua architects provided for inadequate hallway space, read design flaw) but the balance of your post is on the money! Thank you for your input.

Dough Boy,

jihadists?

I do admit, the term jihad did come to mind. Unfortunately, it was in the context of your bile-spitting angry posts directed at the school board volunteers; as if that's your personal crusade towards a specific individual in charge of it.

Good valid questions, sadly wrapped with a bow made of dung.

As every day passes, it seems that the SB’s argument that we need a third high school gets less and less valid. If we are able to "survive" each day and not have any urgency to wrapping up a deal with a landowner, then why are we going to build this monument to Mark Metzger and the school board? Why are these negotiations going so slow? Why are they not out in the open (because they might ruin our bargaining power? come on!) Is it because the SB feels that they are in no hurry to build a third high school? And what about the children? Aren’t they still suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune by not being able to pass quickly enough in our overcrowded schools?

I have also heard that one reason the school halls are crowded is the fact that certain groups of students are allowed to block traffic in the middle of crowded intersections, yet no one is "allowed" to tell them to move out of the way, might be politically incorrect. But I digress...

The SB now passes all day kindergarten with the school administrators saying that there will be plenty of room to accommodate all of the children, where did that room come from? Where was it a year ago? And what group, other than the teachers union and administrators will benefit from all day kindergarten? I know the argument has been made that working parents and single parents will benefit because they won’t have to pay for in-home or outside day care. Great, another hidden welfare program that we all get to pay for, for the children.

I know that we will never get back the money raised in the last referendum, that we will be paying for (or the people we sell our houses to) for the next twenty years, but why not find better uses for our money than building a diamond and platinum encrusted monument to Mark Metzger and the other SB jihadists?

If anybody is stupid enough to vote for these arrogant bastards during the next election cycle, then you shall deserve the bull crap that these jerks are trying to shove down your throats!

Just an update:

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=80932

Interesting facts:

BB lawyers want to force the district to decide now. No surprise there. And they would like to add more fees if the delay continues. Again, no surprise there.

BB lawyers are asking for the 2.5M (damages) to be added to the original 4M if the district leaves the BB property. Hmm, 6.5M seems to be the amount we paid for the original 25 acres. So if we leave BB we walk away with nothing. Ah, what could you buy with 6.5M? Maybe a year of all day kindergarten :)

D204 offered 20M for only 40 acres of the BB land instead of the original amount. BB turned that down. So, much for the, “We can build the HS on less BB land strategy”.

For Growuppeople,
I agree with Brad204 that too many posters are wasting far too much time sniping at each other, instead of focusing on developing some feasible solutions.

I can't speak for everyone, but my plan to move out of the district has absolutely nothing to do with high school boundaries. My high school designation is NOT changing. The school to which we were assigned when we started building our home over ten years ago will STILL be our school under the 2009 plan. I just feel that so much energy is being consumed by this issue that other issues receive absolutely no attention by the administrators and SB.

Good luck to all of you. I wish you much success with this effort. Cheers.

NorthNaper Resident -
There are indeed loads of homes for sale in D203. Perhaps the market will pick up a bit when the uncertainty surrounding the fate of Mill Street and Naper Central and the resulting impact of those decisions on property taxes is settled. We here in D204 are watching that situation unfold and wish you good luck.

I'm so glad I moved from 204 to 203 8 years ago.
There are plenty of houses for sale up here if you all
want to move...

I find it interesting that we all choose to waste energy picking on each other. The board and our superintendent deserve the heat for the current situation. Instead of facing the public they choose to hide behind softball newspaper interviews.

The board created the boundary friction to get the high school passed. This gamble failed when the whole BB land dispute blown up in their face. Now the SB is scrambling and acting surprised everyone has raised their land prices. I am sure the SB’s artful negotiation process is really keeping the other parties in the dark. I can imagine the land developers are laughing all the way to the bank. Hmm, the time for secret negotiations was before you lost the trial and the land price was posted all over the internet.

This is such a complete cluster it’s hard to believe. I would place the following text in place of todays, Sunday, repeated Naperville Sun’s editorial.

Over the holiday season, the school board members should take time to reflect on the current state of affairs and ponder if they are still making a positive contribution to the district. For those members most tainted by this new high school process, they should do the community a favor and step down. You have served your community well. Going forward you are a liability to future decision making.

As for the superintendent, I thought you were brought in to transition this district out of growth mode and place it into a manageable steady state. Where is that plan? All I have seen from you at the moment is bringing on more expensive over head, CIO who is just a mid-level IT guy from a neighboring district, and adding millions in operation costs for all day kindergarten. How about some operational cost savings and some stability please? Stop being the SB yes man and create a strategic plan the community can understand and plan for.

A little touchy growuppeople? eh?

Can you explain how "geographicaly and realistically" the third school should be built on the North side of the district?

From what I can take of your post, it's okay if the district decides to drastically alter both the location and the boundaries after they secured our votes? You clearly state those as reasons people "ran" to the polls place in support of the $124.7 million dollar request for funds. To switch the location as drastically as placing a school on the Northern end thereby completely changing boundaries is okay with you, not with me. Little bit of "bait and switch" to quote my favorite SB member. But hey, they've got our money and can do what they want with it, I guess.

I've always advocated for a third school. I "ran" to the polls to vote in 2005 prior to knowing any details on boundarys. Where I became disenchanted with the district was the way they handled the boundarys prior to the 2006 referendum. The Civil War you speak of does exist but it surely wasn't started by me. Look to the SB for blame there. SB members clearly showing support for only a portion of the district, Orange shirts? etc. Yes, that troubled me as well.

As far as maturity goes? Who is pointing fingers and name calling? You felt the need to call out not only me but the entire Southern part of the district for immaturity. Why so sensitive? I simply said I've had enough of this district's poor decision making and can't tolerate any more poor decisions such as a drastically different Metea valley location both in terms of location and boundarys than what was presented to the voters. Seems I'm not the only one on this board.

Cheermom,
Your ignorant comment "If the SB does something as foolish as building Metea Valley up North, I'm certain many of us will chose not to live here in 204 as well" clearly supports why the third high school referendum went through this time. It's people like you who ran to the polls and voted, yes, based on where the third high school was going to be built, not whether there was truly a need for a third high school in District 204. Please reference District 204 School District's map. Geographically and realistically the third high school should be built on the North side of the district...no politics involving this no-brainer! The fact that boundaries were drawn by the School Board prior to this last referendum vote is the main reason this referendum succeeded after several failures. It's obvious that most people complaining about the possibility of new boundaries for MVHS on these blogs reside on the South side of the school district. It's ironic that the issue is regarding HIGH SCHOOL since most of the comments on these blogs are from adults who are exhibiting HIGH SCHOOL maturity. What we have in our school district is a mini recreation of the Civil War...how appropriate, North vs South, with the South charging forward to get their way. Perhaps District 204 Fifth Grade students who have overheard their parents ignorant comments regarding placement of MVHS could use this as an example in a DIFFERENTIATION assignment when studying the Civil War this year (see Outta Here). The "grass always seem greener" when things are not going your way. To those who feel that moving out of the district will make a statement regarding placemment of high school boundaries, go ahead and move. Once in your new home town I'm certain it won't take long for you to find something to complain about regarding the town and school district you end up in.

Outta Here - thanks for the reply!

I have 2 kids, oldest just started Kindergarten at Peterson.

Seems weird that they would drop the ball like that.

It seems that there are bad teachers no matter where you go. I talked to a student with advanced math at NV, and she was not happy with her teacher...

If they keep spending money like drunken sailors, I might move to cheaper diggs and send the kids to private schools.

Where do you plan on moving?

Take care

Steve,
You asked about my concerns at the elementary level. I have 3 children: a preschooler, a 1st grader, and a 4th grader. My 1st grader would benefit from differentiation in her class. Her teacher gave an outstanding review of her progress during the parent-teacher conference, and she stated that our daughter is "ahead of the class" in many areas. Sounded great to us as parents. When my husband asked what types of differentiated activities she would provide in the classroom, she looked at us like we had three heads. We assumed her puzzled look was because she didn't understand what we were asking. When I starting explaining what differentiation in the classroom meant, she stopped me and told us that she knew what it meant, but that she had no intention of doing that. Huh?

Basically differentiation is when a teacher slightly modifies or enriches the curriculum for students in the class who can handle a more vigorous or intense assignment. (Example: A 1st grade science unit on mammals could involve each child making a posterboard with pictures of his/her favorite mammal. The differentiated students could be asked to keep a journal on a favorite mammal and write from the animal's perspective about his habitat, eating habits, family structure, and so forth.) Our son is in 4th grade now, but his 1st grade teacher (at this same school) enthusiastically provided enrichment assignments for him when he was a 1st grader. We assumed that this was the norm for the district, or at least our school. However, we've learned that it's up to the teacher whether or not she wants to "be bothered with providing additional enrichment assignments." Wow. Surely my child can't be the only child in that class who would benefit from this. Why would a teacher be reluctant to provide this for those who should have it? Why would the principal leave this up to each teacher? What am I supposed to tell my child? She loves learning, but she's not being challenged by her current assignments and her love for school is starting to wane. I feel like I'm a homeschooler because of the enrichment activities I plan for her at home.

Meanwhile, my 4th grade son's accelerated math class has nearly 40 kids in it, which is unbelievable to me. Since the homebase classes are roughly 26 kids, most parents think that all the classes are about that same size. Not true. His 3rd grade accelerated math class had far fewer kids than the one this year. According to a neighbor with a 5th grader, the 5th graders have two accel. math classes with less than 20 kids in each class. Why can't the 4th grade accel. math students be split into two separate classes? Forty 4th graders learning 5th grade math in a single class is not ideal. Hats off to the teacher for trying to work with that many kids, but the administrators should have planned for this. The teacher doesn't even have an aid in that class. Unbelievable.

We've made up our minds. We'll be gone by the summer of 2009 if not before. We bought into all the hype about this school district, but we've been disappointed by what we've seen. I wonder whether we'll be gone before ground is broken for MVHS. In any event, we'll be gone before the SB hits up the taxpayers for the next referendum to fund the teachers. I've grown weary, but keep fighting for what's right for our children. Good luck to all of you.

It just makes me think that many SB members are there for the personal power & NOT for the public's interest. The Teachers Unions are the ones whom quietly back certain school board members in elections. More schools = more teachers = more 204 Admin jobs at 100,000.00 a year. 204 IPSD Its a self contained bloated & over paid job factory. The larger land (home) developers fund the Bond referendums ( it's for the kids??? yeah sure) and reap millions in their home sales. Hard to break that cycle - smart people can move out or move to the unincorporated sections where taxes are 1/3 of living in incorporated Naperville.

Anonymous,

Great post!

If the SB does something as foolish as building Metea Valley up North, I'm certain many of us will chose not to live here in 204 as well.

We did move out of 204 this summer. It's amazing to me that the high school is still up in the air. We kind of joked that we would be long gone and a decision would still not be made. As for the SB favoring the southern subdivisions that's actually not true. We use to live in Tall Grass and the SB had our neighborhood going to all three high schools. Neuqua was only a mile away, but they wanted us to drive our kids up busy Route 59.

Outta Here - what are the issues you are seeing that would cause you to leave?

Its obvious the school board has a blatent disregard for the taxpayers of this city. I am of the same belief as "outta here". We are planning on moving out of the school district and out of the over crowded, overly expensive, heavy traffic, poor weather climate of the Chicagoland area. we would leave now, but the housing market is down. We will place our home of 12 years on the market in the spring and make the move out of the area. It has been fun for a while, but the ridiculous way the school board operates and the over taxing of the citizens of Naperville has made moving the only option!

JWH

Talk to the folks in Ashwood, I'm sure they are really feeling the love from the SB that you state exists.

JWH,

Do you really think the SB only caters to the wishes of the Southern portion of the district? I find that funny.

Remember the Orange shirt JC chose to wear? Many Southern locations boundaries were moved during the boundary decision. Most (if not all) those areas were unhappy with that decision.

So what's your point? Should the SB chose a Northern location to make you happy despite the fact that the overwhelming amount of growth has occured in the Southern portion.

I'm so over this.

As a 204 resident living on the North side of Naperville, it has become painfully obvious that our school board ONLY listens to the wishes of the southern subdivisions. Just look at the boundary mess - - someone please explain why you would split apart a junior high, sending 3 feeder schools to one high school, and isolating Brookdale children to another school with none of their friends? There's a lot of open land (Yes, even towards the north side of Naperville!) besides Brach-Brodie.

We surely wouldn't want to "harangue" the School Board on this topic, would we? Talk about arrogance. The electorate needs to remember these past months at the next election and turn these folks out of office. Brach-Brodie is prohibitively expensive, and given the real estate reality, even in Naperville, and the aging of our population, you have to reconsider the need. More importantly, don't forget the fact that there is NO FUNDING in place to staff a new high school. So, that means that your friendly neighborhood School Board will be back to take yet another bite out of your pocket book. And it will bite !

I have already emailed my concerns regarding this topic to all 7 board members. I recieved one "thanks for the input" response, so I have to assume that my input is waiting to be deleted in the junk mail folders of the other board members.

I do think that we will all just get an email one day that says "MVHS will be located at Eola & Diehl (or Macom or wherever). Here are the new boundaries for each high school. Deal with it."

I guess one way suburbanchicagonews keeps us coming back and blogging is to start a new 203 or 204 blog every few days, it's high drama. (Not to disrespect the high spending issues that creates the drama :-)

This issue has become draining and I'm tired of it. I hate to say that I've thrown in the towel, but it's gotten old. My kids are in elementary and preschool. We plan to leave this district prior to our oldest child going to middle school. We're seeing problems at the elementary school level that aren't even being addressed because all of the attention is focused on the 3rd high school.

I wish everyone well in this district, but we've had enough of this School Board. Good luck.

Gee, let's see...high taxes and never enough money for 204. What can they do to spend even more of our budgets which are already overstressed? How about all day babysitting for yuppies puppies? Unfortunately, we who pay the bills have lost any control over government spending. I still believe that 204 is not considering any other sites other then Brach-Brodie and with health spas, gyms and pools as ubiquitous as Wallgreens and Starbucks I bet the park commission will still cram that crazy recreational center down our wallets. Moving out of these tax districts seems to be the only alternative remaining.

Ah, a fresh discussion...

I am not really sure it matters what the public thinks on the subject when the SB President feels this way about his constituents:

Quote form M2 from a recent Daily Herald Article
"...I'm not sure what the purpose of a town hall meeting would be.
What I didn't write and what was in my head was at least part of these people simply want an opportunity to get torches and pitchforks and see if they can scare or bludgeon people into making a decision that they would approve of."

It’s obvious we have a dysfunctional relationship with our SB and by extension our new Superintendent. That is an unfortunate result of all of this regardless of where you fall on the issue.

Torches please Mark, those are so dangerous for the kids :)