At least one local educator is telling children that a state constitutional convention (con-con) equals elimination of their beloved teachers’ pensions. Evidently the subject of special-interest propaganda, along with the dangers of driving and drugs and death-metal music, must be discussed with the offspring both early and often. So be it. I’ll also go on…
Category: Dist 428
School Board Follies
What the hey: Committee members were given a “fly-over view” PowerPoint presentation of the new high school by ATS&R architects. The new 400,000 square foot school will feature an all brick exterior with contrasting colors to give the building a prairie-style look. Other features include a glassed-in clock tower that will hold the original clock…
FPC Meeting 9/9
The materials sub-committee starts at 3:30 p.m., full Facilities Planning Committee at 6:30 p.m. Plans for the high school are being wrapped up. Then they will discuss Phase II, including floating ideas about consolidating some of the elementary schools. High school core for 3000 and initial classroom space for 2500, and they still think Phase…
FPC Meeting 8/20/08
There were meetings about police station funding and the new schools last night. I am very interested in the new station but since I wrote a letter about the high school it seemed fitting to attend the latter meeting. The core size of the high school, at 3000, is treated as a done deal by…
FPC, DAWC Dates
The Facilities Planning Committee will meet again Wednesday, August 20, at 6:30 p.m. Question: How many guests from the general public does it take to prevent heckling of FPC members who want to talk about downsizing the core of the new high school in response to the latest enrollment projections? Answer: More than 3. The…
School District’s Referendum Costs May Approach $200 Million
[Written by Jim Schneider, who did hear the proceedings. Edited & posted by yinn. Go to Mac’s place for more, including the docs holding the numbers Jim is using.] The $110 million ref was a lot more than advertised. Since this ref is being financed, the interest cost will cause the total costs to be…
ReNew Our Schools Report Ending 6/30/08
The long-awaited ReNew Our Schools semi-annual D-2 Report to the Illinois State Board of Elections has been filed. At the site, click on the “Campaign Disclosures” tab, then on “Committee” to get to the committee search. We’ve already covered the campaign contributions in a previous post. What we’ve been waiting on were the expenditures. Here’s…
FPC Meeting: No Report
I’d like to report on the FPC meeting but can’t. I missed too much. You see, for much of the meeting there were too many simultaneous “mini meetings” going on in the back between school board members and administrators and, at times, something almost akin to heckling. Now, I admit to having a moderate hearing…
FPC Bombshell
The Facilities Planning Committee began planning “Phase II” of the school construction plan last night, but I could not concentrate. Part of it was brain-deadness because these meetings run too darn long, part of it was shock. Here’s why: No matter what we do to cut construction costs, we will still not come under the…
District 428 & the Grassroots: Yeah, Right: Part 2
This is an “I told you so” diary. I wasn’t going to do it but am upset enough about the latest on the Facilities Planning Committee that it just seems fair at this point. January 5th I wrote about the overlap between ReNew Our Schools and the Chamber of Commerce. It just seemed like ReNew…