2008-05-03 IPSD, NSFOC

It’s been like a roller-coaster but much less fun. When your heart is tied tightly to what happens with your children and that is closely tied to what happens in your school district, your feelings go up and down and get twisted all around when things are not going well.

Indian Prairie is an exceptional district and from my perspective, all was going pretty smoothly up until the failure of the 2005 referendum for a third high school. Things began looking up again in 2006 when the referendum passed. However, while in 2005 we had secured the rights to buy property from Brach-Brodie at a negotiated price this was no longer the case in 2006. Hence the beginning of the saga of the land.

The condemnation trial dragged on and on, quick-take did not make it to the floor in the Illinois Senate, and the jury price came in much higher than would be expected based on area comparable sales from the time period in question. Elation that we would soon find out the price was quickly replaced with incredulity at the jury’s decision and wondering how the district might afford this and hoping the Brachs and Brodies might now be willing to negotiate. Negotiating was not possible and due to increases in construction costs, the jury price was outside the realm of possibilities for our district.

Still more ups and downs came when the new site was announced and approved, the new boundaries were announced, barely tweaked, and approved. The environmental reports were made available to our School Board and administrators and they were barred from sharing this information with the public.

Then came the lawsuit. What a slap in the face to the School Board, the administration, and all the parents and students who are depending on this building opening in 2009 to relieve overcrowding and provide additional student opportunities at both the high school and middle school level. This lawsuit was filed by a group of residents who have a very long list of complaints on their website. It appears that they have hung their hopes on whichever of those complaints might have even the smallest of legal basis.

The complaint and amended complaints that were filed are lengthy but the gist is that the district promised during referendum time that the school would be built on Brach-Brodie, and that this needs to happen or they need to return money to the taxpayers and not build a school at all. I think it should have been clear to all that while the district hoped and planned to build on Brach-Brodie, there was a chance that wouldn’t be possible and sometimes plans need to change when circumstances change. The wording in the referendum specified an amount of money to be used to build the school and did not give the location. While some people may have voted for or against the referendum based on expected school location or boundaries, this is now irrelevant. The district found a way to provide the school that the residents voted for. Not building a school would be the most drastic failure to do what was both promised and voted on.

The new school site chosen in January was partially owned by the St. John’s AME church, which was quite unwilling to sell to us in prior years, and Midwest Generation, which is currently dismantling the power plant previously operated on that portion of the land. Many have expressed safety concerns about this land but experts explained to us that nothing unexpected was found, all would be easily remediated, and very little of the land in question would be used by students (it would be under a portion of the tennis courts). Many were satisfied with this. In fact, most whose children would attend this site were satisfied with this while the named plaintiffs on the lawsuit live in areas that are not within the boundaries for the new school.

There appears to be a diverse group of people behind this lawsuit who have many different concerns and have banded together to overthrow the decisions made by both our direct votes and our elected officials. Some like the Brach-Brodie or Macom sites better, or they don’t want their children moved from Neuqua Valley, or if they are to be moved they want to be moved to a new building rather than an older one, or they want to stay at Waubonsie Valley, or they are concerned about safety at the new site, or they are concerned about distance, or they don’t want a third high school at all. Some just seem to be angry with the people in charge or with a perception that some are getting a better deal than others, when in fact we all gain by having more space for our students and smaller class sizes.

Through some confluence of events, Midwest Generation refused to sell their parcel. The district resonated with both joy and sorrow at the loss of this site. Some hoped Midwest Generation would reconsider. Some hoped Brach-Brodie would suddenly be willing to negotiate, despite our experiences with them in recent years. Some hoped Macom would come to the table with a low offer.

The AME church pastor and members made a surprising choice for the welfare of the students in District 204 and I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart. Without knowing when or where they will find another place to build their church, they sold their entire parcel of land to the district so that we may still have our new school opened in 2009. The sale closed quickly and construction work is set to begin once the city approves the revised annexation.

In the meantime, there is outstanding litigation against the district to be resolved as the district continues to move forward with its plans. The words and actions of the lawsuit supporters continue to deepen the divide and make our district a less desirable place to live, rather than promoting healing, unity, and moving forward.

I am constantly amazed at how our students and staff continue to excel in countless areas while this battle rages all around. Thousands of middle school students do not yet know for sure which high school they will graduate from. Kids are resilient and of course will get a fine education in any of our buildings but I am anxious for these kids to know for sure where they’re going so they can be excited about it.

It is unconscionable that our middle-schoolers first got used to one set of boundary changes, then went through a time of having no idea when and where the school might be built and who would go where, to getting used to a new set of boundaries and at this very moment people are working to cause yet another change. I am dumbfounded that two years after the referendum passed we are still required to prove that this building is needed.

For several weeks I avoided writing about the district due to the uncertainty and constant changes but now I am feeling hopeful that in spite of the actions of a very small percentage of district residents, the district can and will come together and be better than ever.