Post by southsidemom on Oct 7, 2007 18:09:58 GMT -6
This was posted on the Naperville Sun's Blog - I don't know if it is all true, but if CFO was accurately able to predict the price of BB to be $500k/acre then, I'll give more credence to the $15 million referendum figure.
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If you are new to the area, you may be having a hard time understanding some of the history of district 204 and the proposed 3rd high school. The district considered building a 3rd high school many years ago but opted to build freshman centers. They told the public that if they approved a referendum for the freshman centers and later they still need a little more space, they would look at alternatives such as building an addition or letting students take internet courses. Not long after the paint was dry on the freshman centers, the district came back a few years later and said, you know what, we want to build a 3rd high school after all. Huh? The $130 million referendum was proposed and soundly defeated. So, the district went back to the drawing board but this time they came back with a lower price of $124.6 million and threatened that if it wasn't improved, they would go to split shifts. Many vendors that do business with the district gave money to a YES referendum group that used emotional appeals about overcrowding but few facts. So with a massive PR campaign paid primarily by district vendors, threats of split shifts, emotional appeals about overcrowding and promises of "no tax increase"; taxpayers approved a $124.6 million dollar referendum in the spring of 2006 to acquire land and build a 3rd high school.
A citizens group called Citizens for Options or CFO said the school wasn't needed, the cost would be too high and there were better options. They laid out all the facts with a website, printed material, presentations to the board and ads in local papers.
The district said enrollment was going to skyrocket to the tune of 1200-1500 additional students. CFO said that was nonsense, growth had peaked and the district had sufficient capacity and if not, there were better options to spending this sum of money for a school that would be under utilized and later not needed at all.
CFO said there was a bubble of students passing through the system, that enrollment would plateau and then decline.
The district said they could acquire land for the school from an unwilling seller for $257,000 an acre.
The unwilling seller was the Brach/Brodie estate. So, the district spent millions fighting these powerful estates and after a year and a half battle, a jury finally decided the price of the land that equated to....hold on to your seat.... 564K per acre for 55 acres (518K per acre plus over 2 million in damages)!! Ooops!
In printed material, CFO had warned all along that the land was worth at least 500K an acre.
It appeared that the district had purposely low-balled the referendum amount.
Now, there is uproar because the district is short money for the proposed 3rd high school.
But, wait, there is more....
In the meantime, 2 years worth of enrollment data has come in and elementary school enrollment has DECLINED 2 years in a row.
Total growth in the district this year was 34 students at last count. Yes, 34, that's it. The kindergarten class appears to be the smallest it has been since 1998.
In the past 2 years, K-5 enrollment has declined by 365 students at last count.
So, the district was either incompetent or loose and fast with the facts and now they have egg on their face. The numbers clearly show a 3000 student high school isn't needed and the price has skyrocketed. To top it off, the district has no money to operate the school so they are already planning to come back to the taxpayers with another referendum in 2009.
Now, you can understand why residents are skeptical about anything the district tells them.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If you are new to the area, you may be having a hard time understanding some of the history of district 204 and the proposed 3rd high school. The district considered building a 3rd high school many years ago but opted to build freshman centers. They told the public that if they approved a referendum for the freshman centers and later they still need a little more space, they would look at alternatives such as building an addition or letting students take internet courses. Not long after the paint was dry on the freshman centers, the district came back a few years later and said, you know what, we want to build a 3rd high school after all. Huh? The $130 million referendum was proposed and soundly defeated. So, the district went back to the drawing board but this time they came back with a lower price of $124.6 million and threatened that if it wasn't improved, they would go to split shifts. Many vendors that do business with the district gave money to a YES referendum group that used emotional appeals about overcrowding but few facts. So with a massive PR campaign paid primarily by district vendors, threats of split shifts, emotional appeals about overcrowding and promises of "no tax increase"; taxpayers approved a $124.6 million dollar referendum in the spring of 2006 to acquire land and build a 3rd high school.
A citizens group called Citizens for Options or CFO said the school wasn't needed, the cost would be too high and there were better options. They laid out all the facts with a website, printed material, presentations to the board and ads in local papers.
The district said enrollment was going to skyrocket to the tune of 1200-1500 additional students. CFO said that was nonsense, growth had peaked and the district had sufficient capacity and if not, there were better options to spending this sum of money for a school that would be under utilized and later not needed at all.
CFO said there was a bubble of students passing through the system, that enrollment would plateau and then decline.
The district said they could acquire land for the school from an unwilling seller for $257,000 an acre.
The unwilling seller was the Brach/Brodie estate. So, the district spent millions fighting these powerful estates and after a year and a half battle, a jury finally decided the price of the land that equated to....hold on to your seat.... 564K per acre for 55 acres (518K per acre plus over 2 million in damages)!! Ooops!
In printed material, CFO had warned all along that the land was worth at least 500K an acre.
It appeared that the district had purposely low-balled the referendum amount.
Now, there is uproar because the district is short money for the proposed 3rd high school.
But, wait, there is more....
In the meantime, 2 years worth of enrollment data has come in and elementary school enrollment has DECLINED 2 years in a row.
Total growth in the district this year was 34 students at last count. Yes, 34, that's it. The kindergarten class appears to be the smallest it has been since 1998.
In the past 2 years, K-5 enrollment has declined by 365 students at last count.
So, the district was either incompetent or loose and fast with the facts and now they have egg on their face. The numbers clearly show a 3000 student high school isn't needed and the price has skyrocketed. To top it off, the district has no money to operate the school so they are already planning to come back to the taxpayers with another referendum in 2009.
Now, you can understand why residents are skeptical about anything the district tells them.
Recommend a new school and then your company gets the job to design it?? Maybe his firm is donating its services for free???
