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Post by macrockett on Jan 24, 2012 12:13:54 GMT -6
A week old, but if no one has seen it...
Article updated: 1/19/2012 11:33 PM
College of DuPage drops lease with Indian Prairie
By Christopher Placek
Since 2006, the College of DuPage has leased space from Indian Prairie School District 204 at the district’s Frontier Campus in Naperville, where high school seniors can take college level classes.
But COD officials say the rental rates previously agreed to — between $36,000 and $40,000 a month — aren’t favorable to the college in the current market.
So the college’s board of trustees voted Thursday to terminate a 10-year agreement with the school district for sublease of the facility, located at 2244 W. 95th St. next to Neuqua Valley High School.
However, COD professors will continue to teach dual-credit courses there since District 204 will allow the college to rent classroom space at lower rates, according to Tom Glaser, the college’s senior vice president.
Exiting the existing lease was a formality, he said.
In the current fiscal year, COD is paying $368,328 per year for use of the space. That number was expected to go up in the next four years, per terms of the agreement.
COD officials expect a savings of about $300,000 annually by exiting the lease.
“We can provide the same classes and services at much cheaper rates by simply renting available rooms” from the school district, college officials wrote in a memo to the board.
However, the college will have to pay a $50,000 early termination fee.
And in 2006, COD paid a one-time fee of $743,460 for the college’s share of construction costs and office and classroom furniture. The college will forfeit any remaining value of improvements, fixtures and furniture as part of the early termination, according to the agreement.
Though Indian Prairie officials did not respond to requests for comment, Glaser said “they’ve been fully on board” with the lease cancellation.
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Post by macrockett on Jan 24, 2012 12:17:18 GMT -6
And here is an LTE from a ..."satisfied" DuPage County resident?
Article posted: 1/24/2012 5:00 AM
Why so long to cancel lease, COD?
A two-million-dollar thanks to reporter Christopher Placek for his eye-opening (or should I say wallet-opening) Jan. 20 news item announcing College of DuPage’s ending of a 10-year lease of Indian Prairie Unit District 204 space.
Being a taxpayer and close-by neighbor to “University of DuPage,” I am often flabbergasted at the amount of money the college goes through for development and lawsuits. However, Placek’s report once again had my mouth hanging open in astonishment.
If my math is correct, COD has spent about $2,6 million since 2006 to help construct and furnish, and then lease a “facility” from Indian Prairie to teach Naperville-area high school seniors advance-level courses. That cost includes the published $743,460 worth of construction and furnishings, $368,328 annual lease, and now the $50,000 early lease termination fee to get out of a bad decision.
COD trustees had a long-past-due lucid moment in voting to end this madness. Had they a sneak peek at Jan. 20 Daily Herald’s “Local Focus” page layout? Placek’s article was next to another featuring Wheaton Mayor Michael Gresk describing economic growth — “It’s not rocket science.” I couldn’t help but wonder if the mayor was addressing those holding COD’s purse strings.
I also can’t imagine why it took COD officials five years and more than $2.5 million to figure out it would be cheaper for we taxpayers to foot the bill for simply renting out pre-existing Indian Prairie classrooms to attain the same result.
Those Naperville students got a million-dollar college education courtesy of DuPage County residents. I hope they use it wisely.
Lisa Ann Wallace
Unincorporated Milton Township
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Post by southsidesignmaker on Jan 24, 2012 12:37:07 GMT -6
Can one assume that district 204 has the same building leased to at least 2016. If not why not lease COD classroom space at all 3 high school buildings as sq. footage is no longer a major issue.
How much is district 204 paying to lease that building east of NVHS main campus on a yearly basis? I know someone on this board will have the answer.
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Post by jimbob on Jan 24, 2012 18:01:06 GMT -6
From the bills list
Office 95 LLC Frontier rent $70,999.73
Office 95 LLC Preschool rent $23,385.81
From secretary of state's web site:
Entity Name OFFICE 95, LLC File Number 01433911
Name Address
FRY PROPERTIES, INC. 54097727 2620 SUTTON CIRCLE POB 9042, NAPERVILLE, IL - 60564
Back to my beer!
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Post by doctorwho on Jan 25, 2012 11:29:53 GMT -6
Can one assume that district 204 has the same building leased to at least 2016. If not why not lease COD classroom space at all 3 high school buildings as sq. footage is no longer a major issue. How much is district 204 paying to lease that building east of NVHS main campus on a yearly basis? I know someone on this board will have the answer. will get you an answer... also as I see it the SD just lost about a few hundred grand in 'revenue'- where is that going to come from ? And you're wondering why our leader has not responded.. As far as leasing space- hell- lease them 1/3 of a high school  The beginning of the extra space- not enough students era...really glad we pissed away $152M to get here. |
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Post by doctorwho on Jan 31, 2012 0:33:57 GMT -6
Can one assume that district 204 has the same building leased to at least 2016. If not why not lease COD classroom space at all 3 high school buildings as sq. footage is no longer a major issue. How much is district 204 paying to lease that building east of NVHS main campus on a yearly basis? I know someone on this board will have the answer. will get you an answer... also as I see it the SD just lost about a few hundred grand in 'revenue'- where is that going to come from ? And you're wondering why our leader has not responded.. As far as leasing space- hell- lease them 1/3 of a high school The beginning of the extra space- not enough students era...really glad we pissed away $152M to get here. Hopefully all can be patient on this one- it is proving more interesting than at first thought. there was a one year extension that took us to Nov 2011 -- after that ? well stay tuned - thiis could prove worth waiting for - |
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Post by casey on Feb 2, 2012 10:25:24 GMT -6
So I heard the high school juniors at Neuqua were told that Frontier is no more? Frontier will not be an option for next year. Very interesting....
Wonder how closing Frontier will affect numbers. How many students went to Frontier this year? I honestly can't remember but I know it was way more Neuqua kids rather than Waubonsie or Metea. There were a higher number of WV kids though because the class of 2012 had students who originally started at Neuqua and some of them chose to attend Frontier.
Just FYI here's enrollment for the 2011-12 school year for each of the 3 high schools. Wonder if the SB is ever going to tackle boundaries again. I should probably keep quiet because I'm quite happy with the way Waubonsie is now but Neuqua is way too crowded and MV is underutilized.
2011/12 Enrollment (taken from school profile pages on each homepage)
Neuqua 4079
1013 S
1032 J
1008 S
1026 F
Waubonsie 2530
627 S
634 J
665 S
604 F
Metea 2480
586 S
632 J
623 S
639 F
I'm wondering if there are any, any, any Neuqua parents who supported the referendum and supported our SB as we chose to spend $150M+ on a 3rd HS to relieve overcrowding who feel like they got their money's worth? Neuqua is still over 4000 students (3166 students in the main campus). It's still hard to participate in activities, make teams, etc. I'm loving the small sizes at Waubonsie for those reasons.
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Post by doctorwho on Feb 2, 2012 15:53:14 GMT -6
So I heard the high school juniors at Neuqua were told that Frontier is no more? Frontier will not be an option for next year. Very interesting.... Wonder how closing Frontier will affect numbers. How many students went to Frontier this year? I honestly can't remember but I know it was way more Neuqua kids rather than Waubonsie or Metea. There were a higher number of WV kids though because the class of 2012 had students who originally started at Neuqua and some of them chose to attend Frontier. Just FYI here's enrollment for the 2011-12 school year for each of the 3 high schools. Wonder if the SB is ever going to tackle boundaries again. I should probably keep quiet because I'm quite happy with the way Waubonsie is now but Neuqua is way too crowded and MV is underutilized. 2011/12 Enrollment (taken from school profile pages on each homepage) Neuqua 4079 1013 S 1032 J 1008 S 1026 F Waubonsie 2530 627 S 634 J 665 S 604 F Metea 2480 586 S 632 J 623 S 639 F I'm wondering if there are any, any, any Neuqua parents who supported the referendum and supported our SB as we chose to spend $150M+ on a 3rd HS to relieve overcrowding who feel like they got their money's worth? Neuqua is still over 4000 students (3166 students in the main campus). It's still hard to participate in activities, make teams, etc. I'm loving the small sizes at Waubonsie for those reasons. Let the shuffling begin -- with COD's withdrawal - expect word from the district soon as to how they are going to move forward...but yes, Frontier Campus for all intents and purposes is likely gone. ( Even more for your money coming up - ) Yes Casey, you are right, the heavy majority % of Frontier Campus students are NVHS kids. Currently our far northern extension allows for a grand total of 21 seniors to be at Frontier , Waubonsie has 70 seniors there and Nequq 265. Here's what I know about the current situation: A/ The original lease for the Frontier Campus was entered into by the Board commencing August 1, 2006 for a ten year period through July 31, 2016 with the option of extending the contract two additional 5-year lease periods. ( allowing for 20 years total of working relationship) B/ There was also an option that the district could cancel the lease after the first five years or on or before July 31, 2011. If this had occurred, the district would have been responsible to pay $100,000 for rescinding before the end of the 10 year contract period. ----On February 17, 2011, the district and the landlord entered into an Amendment to the original office lease. The only aspect of the original contract affected by this amendment was the annual base rent. ----This was renegotiated as part of the need for austerity last year. The original annual base rent was $563,052 and was reduced to $485,622 for an annual savings of $77,430. The district will also be receiving $5,000 from TCD for space they rent at Frontier. ---- All other original terms and conditions remain in full force and effect as originally stated in the 2006 contract.
-- So will each school get their 'own' Frontier campus within the walls of exisitng buildings ? Well one sure as hell has the room, but where within NV would that work ? -- What kind of relationship remains with COD- or 'can we do it better ourselves ? You know like bus control - LOL ! --Even better yet, remember when the crew said more boundary changes in the future could not be ruled out-- get ready my friends. Some group may have to leave Neuqua to accomodate this.. but where will they go ? WVHS is pushing capacity we were told - so someone else would have to leave WVHS for Wisconsin, er I mean MVHS. More bus costs a comin'... So glad it doesn't affect me any more, but feel bad for someone who thought this was all over. And what better time to address falling ES attendance and a few schools seriously under capacity- than when you are looking to save money. Judgement day may not be as far off as I originally thought-- stay tuned- listen closely, as hints are likely coming soon. You may want to attend the next SB session that is actually public... 2/13 beause it has a 'wrok session' for 2 hours before it.  maybe I'll see you there. |
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Post by casey on Feb 3, 2012 11:37:30 GMT -6
I think you are right, D Day is coming soon. Shuffling boundaries needs to take place. Students need to be moved out of Neuqua to Waubonsie and then out of Waubonsie to Metea. The great North needs bigger numbers. Transportation costs will continue to go up.
Again, I chuckle to think there were people who actually bought in to the idea that the referendum would provide relief to Neuqua. How'd that work out?
Still wondering how long until we're down to 2 high schools again. I'm dreading that day and of course it would be just my luck to have my 7th grader caught up in that. I would move before I'd send him to a severely overcrowded Neuqua. We are quite happy at Waubonsie, thank you very much. Those that were there, those that were forced to move out, and those that are there now, know just what an incredible school Waubonsie is.
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