204TheKids.org Weekly Update

[stinks]

Links to other letter are also available from the below web page.

www.204thekids.org/emailblast/emailblast_feb13.html

February 7, 2006

My name is Carolyn Gloeckle and I have taught science at Waubonsie for over 15 years. I worked through the overcrowding at WV before Neuqua opened. Here are my observations on what happens when a building is beyond capacity.

· Classrooms are bursting. There are no classrooms available to create more sections of courses. Class sizes start reaching 35 and greater. Over crowded lab courses can create dangerous situations. Teachers may choose to reduce the amount of lab work in order to protect students; however, the students loose the experience of the lab.

· Our already crowded lunch periods get even worse.

· Hallways become so crowded we have to extend the passing periods. The hallways are wall to wall with students with backpacks – when someone turns, their backpack knocks someone else over which can easily lead to hostile situations. It is very much like shopping at Christmas time. Lines everywhere. Lines to park, lines to look at merchandise, lines to buy merchandise. We tolerate it because we know it will be over soon. This is what an overcrowded high school feels like – every single day. Just as tempers can get overheated in stores, they also overheat in the overcrowded high school.

· All systems of the building are stressed. All personnel are stressed as they are all working with numbers beyond normal capacity. All support personnel are overloaded – the counselors, social workers, deans, nurse, administrators, teachers – everyone – and you can’t just hire more personnel because there is no place, no space for them to do their job. As a student, seeking assistance can be frustrating as it means another line, more waiting.

Our children deserve better than this. Please support building the third high school.

Thank you

Carolyn Gloeckle

[stinks]

www.204thekids.org/emailblast/emailblast_feb20.html

[blankcheck]

This web site is probably designed by the PR firm they hired on our tax payer dollars. Just like the pathways the district produces, they use pictures that are not even kids in our district. I agree that the CFO web site has many personal opinions but so does the 204the kids web site. Did this web site of 204thekids put up any information regarding the BB land purchase problem? No. Did either this site or 204thekids put up information regarding Peterson not opening? No My guess stinks is that any information put out there which is negative regarding the referendum you will dismiss. I don't call documents regarding the settlement agreement something to dismiss lightly. If I remember correctly, you have lived in this district since 2002 - you have no past history here unlike many of the people who write on this forum. For those of us who have been here referendum after referendum it is our job to question the SB and their decisions regarding the district. To many times have we been told that this is the best solution for our district and then told it was not. The SB put forth a plan back in 2001 with the freshman campuses and additions onto NV. To go back now and try and fix a very expensive proposition that we bought into leaves one to question if the information valid.

[stinks]

Like I've said before. When it comes to justifying the no vote, clairvoyance is a prerequisite of the SB. Did the SB underestimate the growth of the district. Looks like it. Do I think the numbers indicate the need for a 3rd HS. Yep.

As for all the other things you mention, really, all that stuff is peripheral noise that has previously been addressed. Of course, the NO people refuse to listen to the reasoning, since it doesn't fit the NO rhetoric.

So yeah, you got me, I'm going to dismiss it. Until you can definitively show me that people can look into the future with certainty, I'm not going to hold the SB accountable for underestimating the growth.

[warriorpride]

blankcheck said:

This web site is probably designed by the PR firm they hired on our tax payer dollars. Just like the pathways the district produces, they use pictures that are not even kids in our district. I agree that the CFO web site has many personal opinions but so does the 204the kids web site. Did this web site of 204thekids put up any information regarding the BB land purchase problem? No. Did either this site or 204thekids put up information regarding Peterson not opening? No My guess stinks is that any information put out there which is negative regarding the referendum you will dismiss. I don't call documents regarding the settlement agreement something to dismiss lightly. If I remember correctly, you have lived in this district since 2002 - you have no past history here unlike many of the people who write on this forum. For those of us who have been here referendum after referendum it is our job to question the SB and their decisions regarding the district. To many times have we been told that this is the best solution for our district and then told it was not. The SB put forth a plan back in 2001 with the freshman campuses and additions onto NV. To go back now and try and fix a very expensive proposition that we bought into leaves one to question if the information valid.

1) All of the information is available here: www.ipsd.org/3rdHS.asp. It would be silly to duplicate all of it.

2) I think I'd be a heck of a lot more outraged, given the current and projected enrollment numbers, if the SB wasn't proposing a 3rd HS, and just planned on some of the other options, hoping that they would be sufficient.

In the end it does unfortunately boil down to a guess as to how many kids there will be at peak enollment in the HSs and how long that peak will last. I'm not willing to take a chance. Has anyone considered the possibility that the projected numbers could be TOO LOW? What if the peak enrollment is closer to 11,000? Without a 3rd HS, we'd really be painted into a corner.

[Arch]

I think there's a good number of people who have the thinking of "The threshold is not quite there yet, but it may very well be in the future. Let's get some more real data in the queue to see" AKA September 06 numbers. Then, a "better" understanding of those "guesses" will be known, too low, too high, or right on target.

[doctorwho]

<In the end it does unfortunately boil down to a guess as to how many kids there will be at peak enollment in the HSs and how long that peak will last. I'm not willing to take a chance. Has anyone considered the possibility that the projected numbers could be TOO LOW? What if the peak enrollment is closer to 11,000? Without a 3rd HS, we'd really be painted into a corner. <

here's the part that worries me -- and the voteno group doesn't even take this into account because of course their numbers are accurate and all other are wrong, just look at their web site for The Truth we are told.

I drive a few times a week up New York Street to a sports center near Eola -- on the way are two new townhome developments -- one maybe 100 units - the other appears to be larger. Is someone going to estimate 9 kids from 100 townhomes here also ? These are both in the 204 attendance area and will be WVHS. And No One is talking about developments like this - as all focus is on the south end land available --
My fear is that just like the 'guess' was short significantly last time a few years ago ( and if the NO group is so accurate, why didn't they catch that ? ) - , what if this one is short also ?

I keep hearing about how the population is going to stop at some point 3 - 4 years from now. Ask 203 what is happening to them. Empty nesters beginning to move out and young families moving in with 2 - 4kids each -- and slowly they are now starting to face overcrowding, especially in some of their middle schools in the older established areas. So being built out doesn't necessarily start a decline in student population in a town that is desirable to live in, especially with so many tear down areas. 2 blocks from my home is a parcel of land that has a large house that has been sitting empty for 2 years on it. We have gotten notice from attorneys for developers that there is a public hearing as this one house is being raized and 24 townhomes going up in its place on the large footprint of empty land.

I know it's hard to imagine, but what if the VOTENO projection are very short also -- then what ? Where is that contingency plan ?

I , like you warriorpride, am not willing to take that risk with our kids and our property -

[doctorwho]

<I think there's a good number of people who have the thinking of "The threshold is not quite there yet, but it may very well be in the future. Let's get some more real data in the queue to see" AKA September 06 numbers. Then, a "better" understanding of those "guesses" will be known, too low, too high, or right on target.
<

time is the issue here, and how many classes of kids do you put thru a mess while we wait to fix. And let's not kid ourselves- those same people in 06 will want 07 numbers and so on. read the letter from the science teacher who has lived this mess once before at WVHS -- is this really what we want ? It appears some do.

[doctorwho]

>>This web site is probably designed by the PR firm they hired on our tax payer dollars. Just like the pathways the district produces, they use pictures that are not even kids in our district. I agree that the CFO web site has many personal opinions but so does the 204the kids web site. Did this web site of 204thekids put up any information regarding the BB land purchase problem? No. Did either this site or 204thekids put up information regarding Peterson not opening? No My guess stinks is that any information put out there which is negative regarding the referendum you will dismiss. I don't call documents regarding the settlement agreement something to dismiss lightly. If I remember correctly, you have lived in this district since 2002 - you have no past history here unlike many of the people who write on this forum. For those of us who have been here referendum after referendum it is our job to question the SB and their decisions regarding the district. To many times have we been told that this is the best solution for our district and then told it was not. The SB put forth a plan back in 2001 with the freshman campuses and additions onto NV. To go back now and try and fix a very expensive proposition that we bought into leaves one to question if the information valid. <<<


Well I have lived here almost 20 years, longer than most posters here I would hazard a guess and most areas south of 75th street didn't exist as they are today.

And while I agree we all have the right to question the SB, if we look at the track record all of their mis- guesses were to the low side of population issues. If we were going to follow that trend, why does everyone suddenly believe they are to the high side? Well I also remember these same arguments 10 - 12 years ago that they were on the high side - who was right then ?
I am not going to totally defend theboard ( first off we are talking about a different makeup than today anyway - so apples to oranges ) - but there aren;t many people who lived in Naperville 20 years ago who would have called 150,000 and soon to be 175,000. I remember all the articles talking about 120,000 max - built out -- even 100,000 seemed far away. So let's not put it all on the SB here, as I never recall ONE forecast of 175,000 population.

So many times the solution put forth may have looked like the best solution at the time -- ( remember there was a contingent that didn;t think Neuqua Valley was needed when planning started also- or thaat a much smaller high school could be built) - and fought because taxes were going to go up so much. Where would we be now if that happened ?

[Arch]

The rezoning is definitely a problem and it's one that needs a full court press each and everytime something comes up in front of the plan commission or city council. Thank you for going and speaking up when you do.

[warriorpride]

archwinsome said:

I think there's a good number of people who have the thinking of "The threshold is not quite there yet, but it may very well be in the future. Let's get some more real data in the queue to see" AKA September 06 numbers. Then, a "better" understanding of those "guesses" will be known, too low, too high, or right on target.

Arch, what are the September 06 numbers?

[admin]

what are the September 06 numbers?

Next year enrollment numbers. looking back at time, one can usually add roughly 200 to the K class for the first grade numbers. The 2006-7 K is going to be just as big or bigger than the current class. This will be my daughter's class. If my area is any indication of the SD, this will be a big class. All those babies conceived in the Y2k are coming in. ;D

The first grade class will be around 2300.

[warriorpride]

Oh, well, we can't wait until Sept for this referendum. And then if we waited for next year's numbers, then someone would want to wait until the following year's numbers, and so on, ad infinitum.

[Arch]

warriorpride said:

Oh, well, we can't wait until Sept for this referendum. And then if we waited for next year's numbers, then someone would want to wait until the following year's numbers, and so on, ad infinitum.

The BB lawyers can impose a wait period too. September is less than 7 months away and there is a Nov ballot too.

[warriorpride]

Arch, Are you suggesting that there is some threshold of actual (as opposed to projected) enrollment numbers that would convince you and/or others to vote YES? If so, what is that number?