Owen

[warriorpride]

I saw a lot of people speaking for Owen over the last week. Many people pointed to Owen East's commute to MV as being one of the top things that needed to be addressed. The SB addressed it, and people seem to still be complaining.

I'd like to hear from Owen people, east AND west: are you satisfied with the resolution. I guess we can't validate your residence, but I'm truly interested.

[concerned]

I am not from Owen, but the lady I sat next to at the meeting was from OW and she was very upset about Owen being split. She was upset about being a miniority in her MS and that OE will drive by them to get to WV. I really felt for her.

[friend]

First of all, my kids attend Owen and I did not know there was an Owen East and a Owen West until last night! I always thought of Owen as one, but not anymore. From this day forward, you will be labeled as Owen East or Owen West. That was made loud and clear last night. I am sad to admit that the Naperville side of Owen did not want to fight for the WHOLE school to stay together at WVHS. Of course, it is further for the parents near Owen to drive to Metea than most. But isn't that what everybody is fighting about in every subdivision? What is interesting, is that 6 years ago "Owen East" fought really hard at that boundary meeting for Chicory & the Villages of Meadow Lakes to be moved to Owen so that they would be assured of attending Still Middle School. Does ANYONE remember that? Fast forward to present and now the "Owen East" group wants to be split from the very group they "BEGGED" to go to school with.

So, here we are, two labeled groups at Owen. I suppose by now you have guessed that I am from Aurora and you are correct. I was talking to a friend today and was informed that the kids at school were talking about a petition being signed to split them. Her kid came home upset. My kids are upset too.

Going forward, I wonder how the Fine Arts Festival will work? I suppose that the "Owen East" kids will display art at WVHS and the "Owen West" kids display art at Metea. I suppose that we could have only part of the chorus sing at WVHS & the others sing at Metea. Oh, and the band and the orchestra, I guess we will divide it all up the same way too? That sounds like an exciting plan of a very unified school! What about the kids at the Still Middle School with regard to band and orchestra? Will they be split up for the Fine Arts Festival too? Because remember we are now "Owen East" and "Owen West," not Owen.

I am one of several parents that feel very upset by this split. There was a email that went around here about the potential of Owen being split. The email encouraged folks to write in and support keeping Owen together. So, I can assume that others in this area felt the same way.

Call me mad. Call me frustrated. Whatever. I am just tired of this neighborhood being torn apart to meet the boundary needs of this district. Nobody ever mentioned the fact during this current boundary issue that we send elementary students on a bus ride for 30-40 minutes a day for six years from our area. When we have a sub driver, bad weather, etc. the ride is longer. High School is only four years and sometimes finished sooner than that.

I have met some really nice people from Naperville and Aurora at Owen. I just hate to see how this split may effect our community that I have always called "Owen."

[friend]

Yes, that is true. We will be the minority at Still MS that moves onto Metea. Yes, we will literally pass right by WVHS to get to Metea. Yes, we will be able to wave to kids we know from Still MS as we drive to Metea. Oh! I forgot! We may not be able to wave to our friends at WVHS because we will be getting up earlier to get to Metea on time.

[concerned]

I found this post on the Naperville blog.



And I thought that it couldn't get worse, but the SB did just that. My letter to the SB....

After just returning from the board meeting, I realize that your decisions were not going to make everyone happy, however you made our situation go from bad to worse. When I say "our" I mean Owen West. Little did I know that Owen East would take up their cause and leave Owen west out to dry.

Four years ago you sent my subdivision, The Villages of Meadowlakes along with Chicory, to Owen, the furtherst school in the district. With your revised boundry, by sending Owen East to Waubonsie, (along with the other subdivisions already slated to go to Waubonsie) you have in essence taken 3/4 of Still and sent them to Waubonsie. Meaning the only students from Still to be sent to Metea are walkers. Everyone bused to Still is being sent to Waubonsie. You have isolated the area bounded by Route 59, Montgomery, Frontenac & 75th, we are an island. We are the only area south of 75 going to Metea, the 3rd farthest school from our homes.

When I asked Board member Vickers to clarify what Owen east meant I was told Brighton Ridge, West Glen, etc. I asked what about Owen west and she stated "we didn't hear from anyone from Owen west. By the time I realized that Owen east had their own agenda and that Owen west was apparently "on their own" it was too late to sign up to be heard.

I believe a huge injustice was done to the families living in this area. It wasn't bad enough that we were being sent to the farthest school in the district (for the 2nd time) and the 3rd farthest from our house, you took the majority of the population of Still and have sent them to Waubonsie. You may not see this as a detrement, however I do. You have no idea what this will do to my children.

You only have to live with this decision for tonight, however my children have to live with "your mistake" until 2014.

[sleeplessinnpvl]

Wow, that letter says it all.

[momto4]

sleeplessinnpvl said:

Wow, that letter says it all.

I know people who live near Owen. I believe that they were not so much looking for a split from the rest of the ES as they were looking to not have the long travel to MV and said if splitting them is the only way to do this, they would rather split than go to MV at AME. It is too bad that the people in the west part of the attendance area weren't informed of this so they could plead their case to go to WV with the rest of their ES attendance area.

The people likely realized that the chance of the entire ES attendance area being allowed into WV or NV was either unlikely or would cause a ripple effect problem for some other ES so asked for what they thought they had the best chance of getting, and it worked.

Now Owen and Gombert both have the same situation - they all head into Still and then are split into MV and WV.

[moo]

warriorpride said:

I saw a lot of people speaking for Owen over the last week. Many people pointed to Owen East's commute to MV as being one of the top things that needed to be addressed. The SB addressed it, and people seem to still be complaining.

I'd like to hear from Owen people, east AND west: are you satisfied with the resolution. I guess we can't validate your residence, but I'm truly interested.

As an Owen "east" parent that has opened Cowlishaw, Owen and Still... I am glad that we will not have to travel 8 1/2 miles to open another new school. Actually, my kids are too old, so they wouldn't make the trip anyway... but my concern was for the neighborhood.

It wasn't about Owen east vs west... it was about getting rid of the (by far) longest, most unreasonable commute in the district. It already takes my son 40 minutes to get home from school (unless there is a train)

I don't blame Owen west parents for being upset. Just like I don't blame any other parents in the district for being upset... whatever the severity of their situation... the AME site is not a good location for most of the district.

If they would move the parts of McCarty and/or Steck that bus.. to MV.. then maybe they could turn Still into a feeder school for Waubonsie. But, that would create problems for other neighborhoods...

It is interesting to see the shots being taken at Owen East when it was pretty well aknowledged that our neighborhood (along with Peterson) had about the roughest deal in this boundary snafu.

If it were up to me they would scrap the whole idea and start from scratch.

That said... I love District 204 and feel grateful to live in such a great school district.. loaded with parents that are caring, giving and involved.

[d204mom]

As I read through this thread I am reminded of what John Stephens said at the January meeting about looking out for all 190 subdivisions in the district.

ipsdweb.ipsd.org/News.aspx?id=17332
Click on January 22, 2008 meeting 2:21:45

I am also saddened that the school board and administration have once again turned neighbors against each other; this time in the same elementary school. The way this has been handled by the board is a complete disgrace to our district.

[proschool]

WP asked a question so I will answer. I've been working on these high school issues for I long time but I come to the conclusion that my work doesn't make a difference.

Yeah. I am upset about traveling into a distant neighborhood for ES and then having to travel to the opposite end of the district to another distant neighborhood for high school. My kids have been happy at Owen but I know that the experience was sort of the experience of having a school in their own neighborhood. I thought it was in bad taste when the city of Naperville prohibited left turns into the school bus lanes causing our school busses to have to drive around the neighborhood rather than driving through it. However the buses picking up Naperville students are allowed to pass through the neighborhood on their way to Hill and WVHS. they banned parking on one side of the street during a school event and issued a bunch of parking tickets too. But overall it has been a good experience.

I disagree with Moo that his area was more affected than mine. A family with ES students and HS students will have a much more difficult time living in my neighborhood than his. I don't think I would have an easy time selling my home if I had to do so.

When high school begins I don't think that my kids will have much contact with the friends they made in ES. HS is busy enough and they live too far away. I think that parents would be more interested in more fostering friendships with kids that their children be able to keep for a long time.

I had an opportunity to observe the tactics of the last boundary committee. It was totally out of control. Phone calls were made late at night between members. Secret agendas were present. Secret alliances were made. Children were moved back and forth like cattle.

During than time, I heard whispers that BR was "promised" to stay at Still. It was obvious the only way to make sure of that was to have Still walkers attend Owen because they wanted to avoid splitting students up between the fifth and sixth grades. The other Cowlishaw bussers could have gone to Owen and actually stayed with more of their classmates than attending Cowlishaw but that may have sent BR to Hill. If that was talked about someone from a secret alliance would put the proposal down for some fictitious reason.

I was happy when I didn't see the boundary committees didn't return. I was even happier when M2 acknowledged that the process was "irretrievably broken" and that secret deals were being made in the past. I was more comfortable with the school board making decisions because they were directly accountable the voters and they were required by law to have their discussions in public.

Monday it seemed like the boundary committee all over again. I was disappointed to learn about the petition form WVHS parent's reports. Over 200 signatures are about equal to one for every Owen "east" student.

But I was even more disappointed with the school boards action. I heard it was a done deal days before the meeting. Then it all came true. Obviously things were discussed behind closed doors prior to the meeting. Funny that I didn't hear anything form JS. I didn't hear a word from him at he last boundary committee meetings either. I remember being surprised to learn he was a member.

[friend]

I did not not know anything about a petition to divide Owen until the night of the meeting. It is very sad that we even had a SB member from Brighton Ridge and he did not even make an effort to keep ALL of Owen together at WVHS! There was not even a discussion about what splitting the ES would do to our Owen community. None! "Owen East" is not the only one with commuting issues! Our ES students have the longest commute time in District 204! And they commute to Owen ES for 6 years! What about the "Owen West" parents that will have a kid in ES, MS & HS at the same time? What great joy it will be to do that round trip when your kids participate in before & after school actives! I agree with Moo that the distance for their family to Metea would be bad. But so would the distance for my family. I am just so, so sad about this situation. This is hard to digest.


I soooooo disagree with Christine Vickers comment that the SB did not hear from "Owen West." I wrote the SB and I know alto of others that did too. I do know that Christine Vickers and John Stephens took a very active role 6 years ago to make sure that their subdivisions were "protected" from "bad" change. The issue 6 years ago was, who will go to Owen and who will go to Still MS. Vickers did not want to see Larurel Ridge split from McCarty because of the "distance traveled" to the new Owen ES. Brighton Ridge/Westglen fought hard to get the Villages of Meadow Lakes & Chicory to go to Owen so that they could go to Still MS. Does anyone remember that? Now, Vickers & Stephens are on the board. A new boundary issue is presented that could effect both of their subdivisions. McCarty could have gone to Metea. Owen could have stayed together at WVHS if that had happen. Isn't it interesting that these two SB members didn't even discuss that !! In fact isn't interesting that nobody on the SB talked about it. Very, very fishy! Rumor on the street is that many deals were made before the SB mtg. took place on Tuesday.

We are an island over here and we are sinking! Help!!!!

[moo]

proschool said:

I disagree with Moo that his area was more affected than mine. A family with ES students and HS students will have a much more difficult time living in my neighborhood than his. I don't think I would have an easy time selling my home if I had to do so.

proschool, I didn't say we were more affected, I said we had the longest commute (by 2+ miles). On a personal level, I don't presume to know how all of these changes impacts each person individually...but I agree that your situation stinks.

I don't like the splits either, my two youngest (15 & 20) both went to Still and made friends that they still have today. I am doing the shuttle service to The Villages of Meadowlakes & Chicory Place on a regular basis. (Likewise, the other parents are coming here too)

On a side note: of the 41 properties available in Aurora 204 that attend Still, 13 are under contract.. and enviable number in today's real estate market

[moo]

friend said:

I did not not know anything about a petition to divide Owen until the night of the meeting. It is very sad that we even had a SB member from Brighton Ridge and he did not even make an effort to keep ALL of Owen together at WVHS! There was not even a discussion about what splitting the ES would do to our Owen community. None! "Owen East" is not the only one with commuting issues! Our ES students have the longest commute time in District 204! And they commute to Owen ES for 6 years! What about the "Owen West" parents that will have a kid in ES, MS & HS at the same time? What great joy it will be to do that round trip when your kids participate in before & after school actives! I agree with Moo that the distance for their family to Metea would be bad. But so would the distance for my family. I am just so, so sad about this situation. This is hard to digest.


I soooooo disagree with Christine Vickers comment that the SB did not hear from "Owen West." I wrote the SB and I know alto of others that did too. I do know that Christine Vickers and John Stephens took a very active role 6 years ago to make sure that their subdivisions were "protected" from "bad" change. The issue 6 years ago was, who will go to Owen and who will go to Still MS. Vickers did not want to see Larurel Ridge split from McCarty because of the "distance traveled" to the new Owen ES. Brighton Ridge/Westglen fought hard to get the Villages of Meadow Lakes & Chicory to go to Owen so that they could go to Still MS. Does anyone remember that? Now, Vickers & Stephens are on the board. A new boundary issue is presented that could effect both of their subdivisions. McCarty could have gone to Metea. Owen could have stayed together at WVHS if that had happen. Isn't it interesting that these two SB members didn't even discuss that !! In fact isn't interesting that nobody on the SB talked about it. Very, very fishy! Rumor on the street is that many deals were made before the SB mtg. took place on Tuesday.

We are an island over here and we are sinking! Help!!!!

friend, that you feel like an island is sad. This is a terrible position for you to be in.

The SD put short time frames on everything so that no one had any real opportunity to do anything. I think it was Arch that said something about Owen east and Peterson being "red herrings" and perhaps he was right.. they were an easy "fix" and the school board can say they "listened".

[WeBe204]

moo said:

friend said:

I did not not know anything about a petition to divide Owen until the night of the meeting. It is very sad that we even had a SB member from Brighton Ridge and he did not even make an effort to keep ALL of Owen together at WVHS! There was not even a discussion about what splitting the ES would do to our Owen community. None! "Owen East" is not the only one with commuting issues! Our ES students have the longest commute time in District 204! And they commute to Owen ES for 6 years! What about the "Owen West" parents that will have a kid in ES, MS & HS at the same time? What great joy it will be to do that round trip when your kids participate in before & after school actives! I agree with Moo that the distance for their family to Metea would be bad. But so would the distance for my family. I am just so, so sad about this situation. This is hard to digest.


I soooooo disagree with Christine Vickers comment that the SB did not hear from "Owen West." I wrote the SB and I know alto of others that did too. I do know that Christine Vickers and John Stephens took a very active role 6 years ago to make sure that their subdivisions were "protected" from "bad" change. The issue 6 years ago was, who will go to Owen and who will go to Still MS. Vickers did not want to see Larurel Ridge split from McCarty because of the "distance traveled" to the new Owen ES. Brighton Ridge/Westglen fought hard to get the Villages of Meadow Lakes & Chicory to go to Owen so that they could go to Still MS. Does anyone remember that? Now, Vickers & Stephens are on the board. A new boundary issue is presented that could effect both of their subdivisions. McCarty could have gone to Metea. Owen could have stayed together at WVHS if that had happen. Isn't it interesting that these two SB members didn't even discuss that !! In fact isn't interesting that nobody on the SB talked about it. Very, very fishy! Rumor on the street is that many deals were made before the SB mtg. took place on Tuesday.

We are an island over here and we are sinking! Help!!!!

friend, that you feel like an island is sad. This is a terrible position for you to be in.

The SD put short time frames on everything so that no one had any real opportunity to do anything. I think it was Arch that said something about Owen east and Peterson being "red herrings" and perhaps he was right.. they were an easy "fix" and the school board can say they "listened".

I want to be clear about something. We did not get fixed. We aimed low and went for a simple albeit less an optimal solution.

We are still.

Pet (Ashwood North) -> Scullen -> WVHS
Pet (Wheatland) -> Scullen -> NVHS
Pet (Ashwood South -> Crone -> NVHS

Our seven kids are still gonna get split off at high school time. But hopefully by then the FRY kids and ours will have bonded. Our situation is not ideal but we decided to come as a group say something nice about our new high school (WVHS) and move on.

[moo]

brad204 said:

I want to be clear about something. We did not get fixed. We aimed low and went for a simple albeit less an optimal solution.

We are still.

Pet (Ashwood North) -> Scullen -> WVHS
Pet (Wheatland) -> Scullen -> NVHS
Pet (Ashwood South -> Crone -> NVHS

Our seven kids are still gonna get split off at high school time. But hopefully by then the FRY kids and ours will have bonded. Our situation is not ideal but we decided to come as a group say something nice about our new high school (WVHS) and move on.

Right! I used the " " marks, but didn't get across the sarcastic side very well. Sorry Brad204. I don't think they "fixed" my area either, the commute will just be better.