A couple stories in Wednesday's Sun update Indian Prairie School District 204's legal troubles surrounding Metea Valley High School. In one case, the district is being sued by the Brach and Brodie trusts, owners of the land near 75th Street that the district wanted, but abandoned after deciding the court-determined value was too high. Now the Brach trust says the district owes it $2.2 million plus damages for its portion of the property the district abandoned for a third high school, which would be in addition to the $12 million being sought by the Brodie trust.
Also Tuesday, representatives of the district and a group of parents who are suing the district and hoping to block construction of Metea on the Eola Road property met for a scheduled mediation conference that apparently proved fruitless. "I can only say that the mediation has concluded, there was no resolution, and there are no plans to meet again," said Shawn Collins, attorney for Neighborhood Schools for Our Children.
Both court cases continue in coming weeks. What's your reaction to the latest developments? What do you expect to happen next?
Representatives of Indian Prairie School District 204 and the group Neighborhood Schools for Our Children will sit down at the bargaining table May 13 in an attempt to mediate a lawsuit that NSFOC filed against the district. The group seeks to block the district from moving forward with construction of Metea Valley High School on the Eola Road site, saying the district has an obligation to buy the Brach-Brodie land and build there.
Will mediation work, or will this suit end up being litigated in court? What would be an equitable solution to the situation? Will the NSFOC suit end up being dismissed and will the district proceed with construction in hopes of opening Metea in August 2009? What about the other lawsuit the district faces for backing out of efforts to buy Brach-Brodie? How much in damages and legal fees will the district end up paying because of its court battles with the Brach and Brodie trusts? When all is said and done, will it end up costing the district more to build on Eola than if it had paid the court-determined price for the Brach-Brodie land?
For this post we feature an entry sent to us by Andrew Kriz, an alumnus of Naperville's Neuqua Valley High School and a law student at the University of Iowa. Andrew writes about a friend who was planning to go to Neuqua's prom tonight (5.2), but was denied the chance because he missed the deadline to buy a ticket. Are school administrators being too harsh? Or is this one of life's important lessons?
Editor's note: Due to a production error, this story did not appear in the print version of The Sun today (Thurs. 4.24). It is, however, on our web site at napersun.com and an updated story will appear in Friday's print version of the paper and on the web site.
In a reversal of a lower court decision, a federal judge has ruled that a Naperville high school student be allowed to wear a T-shirt that proclaims "Be Happy - Not Gay" at a school sponsored event - on school grounds - that promotes tolerance and diversity. The issue went to court last year when school authorities would not allow the student to wear the T-shirt that they deemed did not fall within the confines of school policy. The federal judge has now made that a moot point and this year the student's voice and T-shirt will be seen and heard. What do you think of the judge's reversal of the decision - is it fair that a slogan of this nature be displayed at a public school or do you disagree?
Late Friday (4.18) the opposition group to District 204's new site for the third high school, "Neighborhood Schools for our Children" or NSFOC, filed a new court motion aimed at halting construction of Metea Valley High School along Eola Rd. The group's sttorney, Shawn Collins, is requesting an expedited trial on May 30. Only problem is that if things go according to the current plan, the district will be roughly three weeks into construction of the third high school by then. Does NSFOC, who all along have insisted the school be built on the Brach-Brodie site, and only Brach-Brodie, have a chance or is this last-minute motion just tilting at windmills? Meanwhile, the outcome is still unknown on the pending lawsuit against the district involving Brach-Brodie. Where do you think this is all going? It's late in the game and the bulldozer drivers are almost ready to start their engines. The comment line is open.
What a difference a couple of days make! As we report in today's Sun (Thurs., 4.17), it sure looks like District 204 is going to have the new high school, Metea Valley, up and running as scheduled by August, 2009. Officials of the district and school board tell us that due to the deal with St. John AME Church, construction will be only a couple of weeks behind, enabling the school to open on time. Plus, with this piece of land - which had been used for agricultural purposes only - there are no worries (as tests have indicated) over any environmental concerns. So, at long last, it looks like everyone will walk away happy. Tell us what you think about these fast-moving developments. The comment line is open.
In the latest twist to the saga of District 204 and the third high school, officials of St. John AME Church have offered to sell the district all 84 acres of its property so that the new high school can be built at the site along Eola Rd. The new development means that the district -even after last week's collapse of the Midwest Generation deal - might be able to build on the planned site after all. School Board president Mark Metzger says he'll be sitting down to talk to the church leaders on Monday (4.14), presumably to discuss the price. Meanwhile, critics of the Eola site, "Neighborhood Schools for Our Children" or NSFOC, remain unsatisfied, fearing environmental concerns relate to the church property as well. It's premature to speculate how this will all pan out, but one thing looks certain: It doesn't appear ground will be broken on any site by mid-April, the date that the district said would ensure the new school opening in August, 2009. Comments, anybody?
Citing "serious public opposition and deep division within the community," power company Midwest Generation said Thursday (4.10) that it won't sell to District 204 the 37 acres it needs for the construction of the third high school at Eola/Molitor Rd. Meanwhile, Superintendent Stephen Daeschner reiterated the district's need for a third high school to ease student overcrowding. The school board says that all options are now on the table, including the building of a smaller version of the high school on the remaining 50 acres. And the opposition group, "Neighborhood Schools for Our Children" or NSFOC, urged for a return to talks over the acquisition of the Brach-Brodie property. Where do you think this is all going to wind up? The comment line is open.
In a mass e-mailing sent out Wednesday (4.9), District 204 superintendent Dr. Stephen Daeschner addressed the matter of the location of the third high school at Eola/Molitor Rd. and for the first time directly confronted the dissident group "Neighborhood Schools for Our Children" or NSFOC, who are suing the school board over the location. Daeschner said in the e-mail that NSFOC was a small group, numbering 200-300 members out of a district of 18,500 families in 55,000 homes, that is spreading "misinformation." Separately, in a Sun story today (Thurs, 4.10) on the "secret" environmental reports that the NSFOC referenced about the site, District 204 explained that - in the district's estimation - there's nothing secret about them at all. The story, headlined on the front page of the paper, can also be found at napersun.com. What do you make of the situation now, after Daeschner's e-mail and the district's explanation of the "secret" reports? We'd like to know.
It's a double whammy for officials of District 204. As we report in today's Sun, (Wed., 4.9), the district is facing a big lawsuit from the Brach-Brodie trust which contends that it lost out on a $40M deal with a real estate investment firm over the BB property due to the district's pulling out of the venture at the last minute. Furthermore, in a scathing letter sent out yesterday, Shawn Collins, attorney for "Neighborhood Schools for Our Children" or NSFOC, provides a litany of grievances about the just-made-public environmental reports. Among them: There are seven secret reports on the third HS site still unreleased; the power lines and pipelines were ignored; only 15 of the site's 87 acres were tested and there was no testing for unreported spills. It looks like the embattled district is fighting a two-front war: One on the fiscal side and the other on the environmental side. Thoughts, anyone?
