Anyone else hear about this? There is talk of dropping $200 grand on a pond in this area. Seems a bit excessive.

I believe you are referring to the Hadley Courtyard Renovation Proposal which was discussed at the April 18th Board Meeting.

From the e-news sent out:

HADLEY COURTYARD RENOVATION PROPOSAL
The BOE reviewed a plan for renovations of the Hadley courtyard space. On Nov. 1, the BOE discussed a roughly $50,000 concept to clean up, landscape and provide seating areas in the courtyard, and asked the administration to come back with a revised option to transform it into a viable, sustainable learning space that could be used in alignment with the curriculum, would be a long-term asset to Hadley students through the years, and would be consistent with the 2009 recommendation from the Master Facility Plan Steering Committee to extend learning into outdoor spaces. The administration brought a revised concept back to the BOE Feb. 21, and the BOE approved going out for bid on March 7, requesting that the components of the plan be detailed. The low bid totaling $207,000 from Lite Construction lays out the following costs for the enhancements of the revised plan: water feature intended for habitat study $38,000, a small amphitheater-style performance area 15,000, light fixtures $13,000, and associated stormwater work $33,000. The BOE Finance Committee previously reviewed the revised plan at its April 4 meeting, and the BOE expects to take action on the matter at its May 2 meeting.

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As always, members of the public are invited to speak on this or any other topic related to board work at the public speaking portion of our meetings.

Dan Smith, Jr.

Well I guess D41 isnt as "Cash Strapped" as they like to advertise. I'm guessing if you have 200K to blow. Then you certainly don't need any more money from us taxpayers.

Of course I'm sure that student science scores will skyrocket after spending 200K on this.

If they can turn it into usable learning space, I'm all for it. It's just a big waste of space right now...

It appears that a $50,000 concept turned into a proposal bid at more than four times that amount.

Now I love nature more than most and spent many, many hours when my kids were younger - and actually still do so to this day - discussing all things outdoors, but that really seems like a lot of money. When I mentioned the idea and expense to my Hadley graduates, one said, "They could hire at least two new teachers with that amount of money."

1. Regarding the amphitheater - really? How many days are the kids in school when the weather would be amenable to utilizing that space?

2. How much is expected to be budgeted for additional expenses and ongoing maintenance? That would include maintaining animal and plant life, the pond as well as spring and fall clean-up.

3. Who will be in charge of monitoring and taking care of the space during the summer months? What will that cost be? Naturally occurring habitats would do fine without intervention, but created environments need a little assistance.
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Why didn't this work? It sounded pretty cool. From the D41 Board Highlights 11/17/03:

ACTION HADLEY COURTYARD A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO LEARN: The board recognized the Hadley Courtyard project, which has received numerous awards, including the Glen Ellyn Environmental Commission’s Most Beautiful. The courtyard, which is used as an outdoor classroom, features five areas: butterfly, prairie, woodland, native and suburban backyard. Outdoor Education Coordinator Jim Bourke, who has been instrumental in developing and maintaining the garden, described its evolution and noted that many volunteers have contributed many hours to the project.
NEXT STEPS
This year alone, 1,200 bulbs, 200 perennials, and 3.5 tons of crushed stone were added to the garden and future improvements are on the drawing board.

While I am not one who feels evvvvvvvvvvery siiiiiiiiiingle expenditure or improvement plan is a slap in the face to taxpayers and needs to be taken personally, I really question this expense. Even before the young and talented GEMom2 chirped in with her fancy questions, I thought the same thing . . . when the hell will this ever be used? Maybe a month in the spring and a month in the fall . . . then the weather will turn to crap.