Recently in School District 204 Category

Recently, President Barack Obama said American students need to spend more time in school to stay competitive. According to the president, students in other countries spend 25 or 30 percent more time in school than American students.

District 203 and 204 don't have any plans to lengthen the school day or school term, and District 203 is bound to its current school year by its terms with the teachers union. Also, factors like bus scheduling have to be taken into account.

Despite the objections, do you think Naperville students should spend more time in school, either with additional days in the school year or more time per day spent in the classroom?

District 204 began the new school year with several big changes. Kathy Birkett is beginning her first year as superintendent, taking over for Stephen Daeschner. Metea Valley High School opened its doors for the first time. The district also began taking control of bus routing for the first time.

There have been numerous reports of bus problems especially in the first week, with too many students assigned to a bus, or students not knowing what bus to ride or not being picked up by their assigned bus.

What do you think of the problems District 204 has faced so far? Is the administration taking effective measures to deal with the problems? What other issues have come up?

It was revealed at Monday's District 204 school board meeting that the administration has had discussions about eliminating class rank.

Opponents of the ranking system say that among the drawbacks, rank can be misleading because in a highly competitive school district such as D204, those students lower down on the ranking list still have very good grades. In District 203, which eliminated ranks in 2006, administrators found that students were basing their choice of classes on how they would affect their rank, steering away from non-honors classes like music and technology.

Contrary to fears, D203 found that students signed up for more honors classes after the ranks were eliminated.

Some students the Sun talked to, however, were protective of their ranking, seeing it as a tangible goal and a way of comparing themselves to their peers. Others said a high ranking was a reward for hard work.

About 45 percent of high schools in the country have eliminated the rankings. Is it time for D204 to follow that course?

After hiring a search firm to get input on the criteria to look for in a superintendent to replace Stephen Daeschner, District 204 announced Wednesday it will appoint Deputy Superintendent Kathy Birkett to the position.

Some of us at the Sun saw similiarities between this move and the recent search for a Park District executive director. In that situation, the board searched the whole country to find someone, hiring Daniel Betts who was brought in but never seemed to fit and was soon gone. The next time around, the park board looked closer to home and hired Ray McGury, who seems a much better fit.

Similarly, the District 204 board hired Daeschner after a large search, but when he left, they decided to find someone who was already in the area and was familiar with the situation this time with Birkett.

Should our community groups and organizations look closer to home more often when looking for leadership instead of thinking the best candidate is going to be found elsewhere?

And what do you think of the Birkett promotion?

Neuqua Valley High School student Rodney Boyd Jr. says he was given a raw deal by not being allowed to run for senior class president. Though he was class president sophomore and junior years, the class council sponsors, whose endorsement is needed to run for the office, refused to approve him, citing a drop in performance.

Boyd ran a write-in campaign and believes he received a large number of votes, but the school refused to count them, though Boyd says write-in votes have been counted before.

On Monday Boyd's parents appealed to the school board to either redo the election or to count the write-in votes, but the board didn't budge.

Do you think Boyd's votes should have been counted, or as the district said, the student council devised its own policies and it is up to the council to modify them?

Indian Prairie School District 204 Superintendent Stephen Daeschner has applied to be Greater Clark County (Ind.) Schools' next superintendent.

A little over a month ago, Daeschner responded to rumors that he was a finalist for the position and that Greater Clark representatives had visited District 204 by telling The Sun he hadn't even applied for the post.

But, on Monday, he disclosed that he'd decided to apply for the position because he had a "passion for at-risk kids, and they're all at-risk."

Greater Clark County Schools serve about 11,000 kids in the southern Indiana communities that sit right across the Ohio River from Louisville, Ky. Louisville is where Daeschner lived before he accepted his current position two years ago. There, he worked as superintendent of Jefferson County Public Schools for 14 years.

All of Greater Clark's schools serve large populations of students from low-income families.

Greater Clark would appear to want Daeschner to return to the Louisville area. In 2007, a prominent Greater Clark board member told District 204 officials that he wanted Daeschner to be the next superintendent of his district.

Daeschner, though, said this isn't a done deal, and added that he isn't interested in leaving District 204 for any other job.

What are your thoughts? Should he leave? Is he already gone? How would District 204 hold up without him?

UPDATE: Daeschner accepted the post in Indiana on Wednesday. Daeschner reportedly agreed to a three-year contract for $225,000. District 204 said it does not know at this point who will take over Daeschner's job while the district conducts a search, which typically takes about a year.

The Sun recently published profiles of candidates for District 204 school board. What do you think?

Here is a link to the story:
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/election/1492379,6_1_NA24_SCHOOLS_S3.article

While Neuqua Valley's boys basketball team didn't make it to the state finals, this season was historic for many reasons, including 31 wins to only two losses and 23 straight wins.

Tuesday night's defeat to Dundee-Crown in the Class 4A NIU Super-Sectional also means an end for fans to glorious nights of cheering, celebrations of wins and analysis of losses.

What does this incredible season that ended on a whimper rather than the growl most expected mean to you? What was it like to sit on the sidelines watching history being made? What were your favorite moments? Parents, tell us what it was like watching your son play the best possible game. Alumni, tell us what it meant to see this team in only its 11th season go almost all the way -- for the second year in a row, too. Students tell us what you expect next year. Will they be able to pull off another great season?

District 204's board and the Indian Prairie Educational Association have reached a tentative one-year agreement that will increase the average teacher's salary by 3.87 percent for the 2009-2010 school year.

Two percent of the increase is on base salaries. The rest is provided by the yearly step increases teachers normally receive, and for additional training or education.

Superintendent Stephen Daeschner said the contract helps the district stay competitive with its benchmark districts - the local school districts that 204 compares itself to. However, some critics on this blog have already criticized giving a nearly 4 percent raise when many other people are taking pay cuts or losing their jobs.

What do you think? Is this a fair contract?

On Nov. 11, two students at Gregory Middle School in District 204 allegedly sexually assaulted a classmate at a private residence. The two have been charged in the case, but a trial is still pending.

In recent weeks, the school district has said it lacks the power to remove the accused students from the school, but one of them has transferred voluntarily to a middle school in District 203. The other accused boy has a legal order to stay at least 100 feet away from the alleged victim. The alleged victim's father and many other district residents say this isn't enough. Parents and residents spoke out recently at a contentious school board meeting. Later, District 204 board President Mark Metzger has taken heat for an e-mail he mistakenly sent to the boy's father and several school officials in which he called the father an unprintable name. On Monday, a group of residents met in a private home to discuss their options, including boycotting district testing and signing a petition for Metzger to step down. On Wednesday, a state House committee will meet to discuss Darlene Senger's proposed bill to give a clear legal option to school districts in situations like this.

What do you think about the recent developments? Do you think there are any options for parents in the district who are unhappy with the district's handling of the situation?