Paul White LTE /SUN 3/19

[sushi]

Letters to the Editor

March 19, 2008

D204 should abandon third high school plan

Next month, it will be three years since voters told District 204 "no" to the idea of a third high school.
But the district, undeterred by the vote and confident it could overturn the will of the voters, hired The Center for Community Opinion to do just that.

The CCO "surveyed" residents, surveys paid for with taxpayer money. Then, using the results of these surveys against the residents who paid for them, the district set out to flip the vote by using scare tactics about overcrowding and split shifts as well as a carrot promising no tax increase. But these deceptions weren't enough - the district wanted to ensure the yes vote - so the district went on a road show, promising certain boundaries based on a third high school site called Brach-Brodie.

Now, two years after the district flipped the vote, the facts are starting to come out. We now see that elementary school enrollment has declined the last two years for a 284-student decline and the district has backed away from the high school enrollment numbers used to "sell" the referendum. The district now projects that high school enrollment will peak in 2011 and then decline. In fact, its latest projections show that in a few short years, enrollment will be back down to the same number of students we have today.

The district now wants to change the boundaries and the location of the third high school to a site surrounded by high voltage power lines and railroad tracks.

It's time to move on.

The district needs to admit its past failings, apologize to the public and cancel the third high school. The facts show there is no need.

Paul White

Naperville

[sushi]

Guess what, Paul. It's way, way overcrowded today so your comment that in "just a few short years we will be back down to the same number of students we have today" doesn't mean c**p. Thanks for the letter, though. We thought you fell off the face.

[JB]

Another stunning display of cluelessness. There's still a boat load of undeveloped land out there that will generate kids when built upon. To make matters worse, we may be throwing another 80 acres back into the mix. So unless Paul can promise that we'll "never, ever, ever" build any more housing in 204, we'll need that school. He can't do that.

[southsidemom]

sushi said:

Guess what, Paul. It's way, way overcrowded today so your comment that in "just a few short years we will be back down to the same number of students we have today" doesn't mean c**p. Thanks for the letter, though. We thought you fell off the face.

I see you are pleasant as always with your comments. You must be having bad weeks lately. Although I don't agree with all of Paul's statements, he is entitled to his opinion. What happened to respect on this blog? Good morning.

[southsidemom]

jb said:

Another stunning display of cluelessness. There's still a boat load of undeveloped land out there that will generate kids when built upon. To make matters worse, we may be throwing another 80 acres back into the mix. So unless Paul can promise that we'll "never, ever, ever" build any more housing in 204, we'll need that school. He can't do that.

Looking more and more like we may be building more housing but it isn't going to sell given all the unsettling coverage D204 is getting.....and it is getting worse by the day. People are not placing D204 on the top of their list anymore.

[gumby]

southsidemom said:

sushi said:

Guess what, Paul. It's way, way overcrowded today so your comment that in "just a few short years we will be back down to the same number of students we have today" doesn't mean c**p. Thanks for the letter, though. We thought you fell off the face.

I see you are pleasant as always with your comments. You must be having bad weeks lately. Although I don't agree with all of Paul's statements, he is entitled to his opinion. What happened to respect on this blog? Good morning.

Paul White's an idiot. He's entitled to his opinion, as is everyone else. I still feel he was canned from work. Probably because he was spending way too much time writing letters and working to further CFO type goals and writing letters to the editor when he should have been working.

[doctorwho]

gumby said:

southsidemom said:

I see you are pleasant as always with your comments. You must be having bad weeks lately. Although I don't agree with all of Paul's statements, he is entitled to his opinion. What happened to respect on this blog? Good morning.

Paul White's an idiot. He's entitled to his opinion, as is everyone else. I still feel he was canned from work. Probably because he was spending way too much time writing letters and working to further CFO type goals and writing letters to the editor when he should have been working.

I do not agree with the assessment that we do not need a 3rd HS - but I will give Paul credit for consistency - he's never changed his position over this in the entire time span.

Again, don't agree with him, but he's not a carte blanche - whatever they want to do, person either.

[gumby]

doctorwho said:

gumby said:

Paul White's an idiot. He's entitled to his opinion, as is everyone else. I still feel he was canned from work. Probably because he was spending way too much time writing letters and working to further CFO type goals and writing letters to the editor when he should have been working.

I do not agree with the assessment that we do not need a 3rd HS - but I will give Paul credit for consistency - he's never changed his position over this in the entire time span.

Again, don't agree with him, but he's not a carte blanche - whatever they want to do, person either.

True. He is, for some reason, like fingernails on a chalkboard for me.

[scarbroughknight]

So he has crawled out of his hole. It has been a few weeks. When the lawsuit is thrown out I expect he will make a final plea then. I can see him picketing Eola when the school starts to go up