Parents and tax payers. Drastic changes are being proposed in District 89--all to save between $200,000-300,000 per yr. For example paired schools-Westfield would be paired with BriarGlen, Parkview with Arborview. One school would be K-2 the other 3-5. No other neighboring communities do this! This will affect our children's education as well your property values. Parents with more than one child in Elem school--will need to pick up kids at 2 diff schools at same time. How will this work with after school activities? Please contact the school board and superintent's office and express your views!

The brilliance of consultants never ceases.

If it ain't broke, fix it.

Take a look around and see if any D41 people somehow snuck into the D89 building in the past few months.

A: A large tax increase

Q: What will prevent "drastic changes in District 89"?

I feel a surreal coming on. This will be 6 for 6. I knew D89 would come through, not wanting to be left out of the action.

Why does a school district of ~2000 students need a large office building on prime real-estate Butterfield Rd? Lease/sell that , get rid of one assistant superintendant and whalla you save 300,000 dollars.

lease property , $150,000,
fire Asst superintendant, $150,000,
not shuffling young children to distant schools, priceless

You pick on Sophie, Fan, simply because that is what you do best. Intimidate. You are a horrible man.

She brings up a good point re: the office space. Seems awfully posh. Why is that?

Also, I am glad to see some 89ers express concern. For years we in 41 have bitched to high heaven. If there are issues in 89, they should be discussed...and what better place to discuss than this forum. A forum that I know you own part of. I just know it.

Is it true Pfefferman is asking for the servers for this BB to moved south of Roosevelt?

LOL DTM!

Absolutely, positively no truth to that!

The GEBB servers are located in Seattle, so it would cost a bit to put them on a semi and ship them out here. Keeping them online via wifi would be difficult at best, especially when coming over the rockies.

Probably have to raise taxes to cover it. —Ted E.

Let's stay focused! Why does a village of 30,000 people require 2 elementary school districts. We are paying for 2 sets of administrators, 2 admin buildings, etc. Instead this money could be focused on curriculum/education!
Wheaton-which is double our size has one district for elem and high school. This is ridiculous!

I agree with Gemom1. Why should we be different? Redundant administration equals less money toward "real" needs- the children. I say no to 2 school districts, combine the administrative duties- make the administrators earn their high salaries (payed by us)oversseing one district and DON'T COMBINE schools in 89. Mr. Pfefferman, I respectifully ask you help the "southsiders", prevent young children from being bused miles away needlessly, protect our homevalues, protect our elementary schools ratings.

Knowing Mr. P as I do, I am certain he would be happy to get involved. We here on the Northside have been asking to merge the districts for years. The was no interest in bringing any plan to the table until something happened that would negatively affect the lives of families and children. Putting all that aside, I wholeheartedly agree that a town of 27K does not need duplicity in this area.

Hi Sophie,

Thank you for the shout-out!

I would be happy to share what I know about the situation...

I am a member of the District 89 Citizens Advisory Counsel. My understanding is that the District 89 Board has agreed to three action items with regard to decreasing enrollment and increasing costs. One is to conduct a District-wide census to determine the number of zero to five year olds in the district. The second is to place a limit on class sizes per school. The third is to study the enrollment situation.

The third action item above included generation of a number of possible solutions, and among them was the paired schools concept. The District held a meeting on this past Tuesday evening to get community feedback about declining enrollment and to generate other possible solutions. I honestly do not know the outcome of the meeting as I was not in attendance, but Dr. Perdue told the CAC last Monday night that ideas would be captured and distributed.

My understanding is that the D89 board has made it clear that no possible solution will be decided upon or implemented before the 2010-2011 school year at the earliest. There seems to be ample time for community input and debate, to which, to date, the D89 board has always seemed to be open and welcome.

Dr. Perdue or members of the board could probably give you a much more thorough update, but I hope that helps. I am certainly concerned about all of our Glen Ellyn schools and institutions and will remain involved.

Thank you again,

Mark

Queen Bee district 16 does have grade level centers. K-1, 2-3, and 4-5 and a 6-8 middle school. Children walk to school or ride a bus.

Thanks gemom1. Even though your post was totally inflammatory, and Chicken Little-like, it got this thread off of the 08/22/08 'Fire at Briar Glen" post.

Thanks Mark for assuring us that the sky is NOT falling, and that our (D89) board works in an open an responsible way.

Also, based on the strip mall kitty corner from the district office, I'm not sure I can classify their location as "prime real estate".

As far as merging with D41.... that's a joke right?

it's no joke..we'd love to share our pain!!

WOW! Sorry in advance for the size of this post Ted.

To jump in here as someone that has had dealings with both school districts (41 & 89), I would like to echo some and rebut some other comments made here over the past few days.
District 89 doesn’t own any “posh space” (sorry clam) – the office space at Butterfield and Park is a far cry from an “A” building (if we stick with the school grading system I’d give it a D+). Additionally, D89 doesn’t even occupy the entire building as some is leased to CASE (if you don’t know what that is, please check it out before you respond).

Dr. Perdue is a 1st class Super that D89 should be happy to have. Very few administrators will take the time and effort that he will in seeing that his stakeholders (yes I hate that word as well as it only makes me hungry) views get heard. He’s top notch and no I am not related nor do I work for him.

D89 hasn’t had a referendum increase for much more than a decade – who reading this would be happy to be paid the same rate as they were in 1986? Yes, some expenses roll directly related to student counts, but many do not. You can buy a few less books, but you still have to turn on the lights and heat the whole building. 89’s schools are in good shape and well run, and that leads to GBS test scores that are better that GBW (sorry NorthofRoosevelters but it’s true). Go to the IL web for school rankings and their full reports.

Right now, d89 is working to turn over every stone and get everyone’s input into what can be done, but don’t kid yourself, a tax increase may be necessary and appropriate just to keep the status quo. Yes, you may need a teacher or two less with fewer students, but the cost of gas, electricity and insurance goes up for schools just as it has for all of us. They have committed to no change for the near future, so read more than this board, go to a meeting and get involved. If you don’t like it, come up with an idea and be heard.

Go to the D89 web site and read through the building plan. They are open to all options and selling the Dist offices is already published in their report from last quarter (it’s already on the table as is what they would do with their staff and which school would most likely close if that choice is made sophie). Believe me when I say this, Dr. Perdue will do everything he can to avoid selling or mothballing a school (that’s in the plan to, with an elevated insurance and maintenance cost and as much as $1,000,000 in estimated reopening costs). That is a bill that would drive me insane to pay, especially if I had seen my home value diminish as I lived next to a vacant school (89er – if you’ve got a better idea, post it).

But, don’t stick your head in the sand and hope for miracle: Things are broke and need fixing (again, sorry clam – I have liked many of your posts for years, but this one just reads like your too angry at the D41 people to see D89’s problems).

Now is a good time to take a break and go to your fridge for an adult beverage before you proceed.
Go ahead, I’ll wait…………

Yes, Queen Bee district 16 (North of North Ave.) does have grade level centers in 2 year groups until a 6-8 middle school (mrsspeechlady). That means that students end up moving schools every other year. It means that at one point they get to attend their local school and they take a bus 75% of their elementary years (under most circumstances) and that is an increase in expense to the Dist as well as travel time issues, security, safety, insurance issues, etc. They have to move a lot, but they get to attend classes with all of their D16 peers. Personally, I don’t like this plan and prefer a local school system. This model is on the radar for D89 as well as an option, but is not the preferred approach. I don’t know of any study that shows paired schools has a detrimental effect on property values (please let me know where I can find this gemom1). However, I am sure that living next to a vacant school or one sold to a commercial endeavor could have a fabulous effect of local property values (insert sarcastic remark here). There are some positives of paired schools, but they are not the reason why most of us consider moving into a school district. I do agree with much of gemom1’s post in that everything from multiple kids in the system, after or before school projects, parent teacher conferences, PTAs, and in many cases, just the comfort for the parents of being able to send our 6 year old off to school with their 10 year old sibling. And if you have a child that doesn’t respond to changes in environment easily, take all your problems and multiple by 2, or 3… No, I am not a fan.

That leaves us with District 41 & GBW: With the budget surplus…. With the lower test scores… With the new Master Facilities plan… For the record, I THINK THE NEW D41 MASTER FACILITIES PLAN IS GREAT. It’s flexible in its design and meets the needs of D41 for the foreseeable future while also addressing specific issues at each of the local schools and removing the need for portable classrooms. It also presents multiple options to choose from for each specific location. If it passes and happens, we should also put on the ballot renaming the North end of town Utopia (with my apologies to Todd Rundgren). How about a show of hands from theD41 people that want to get billed for another $100,000,000 for the construction and future maintenance of a new school (as well as many other property construction projects)? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

No! The North side should not be building new schools while the South side is closing them.

I grew up in a near by town and have lived here for 14 years, and have many of the same feels and angers expressed in other threads on this board. No, the D41 board is not going to apologize or return money from the 2001 referendum. Stop hoping for it and stop waiting, just make them spend their (OUR) money in the way that you (WE) believe is correct.
Stop listening to every board member say that they were, are or will be fiscally responsible and get involved. I trust that if you asked 8 people on this board what that means EXACTLY, you would get 8 slightly different answers – they same issue exists for the school board. Yes, the 2007 Hadley Super School was soundly defeated for many reasons (and I hated it too), but the reason it was on the ballot was that the people wanted changed/improved schools – just not that one. No, the D41 staff is not going to get back either of the prior 2 schools that they sold off to the PD – different board, but the answer is the same.

I am not going to say get over it, because that would mean that we should forget it. But we do need to get past it and focus on what we want today. D41 has big problems of aging portables (that are not designed to be in place long term – in their own reports, the D41 board has said that “at some point the portable become more expensive to maintain than brick and mortar solutions, buildings in need of repair and a student volume that exceeds its facilities design (yes, I have also read the backlash against the prior student count reports from a few years back that projected student counts would be beyond where they are today. No, many of those students have not shown up, but the fact remains that D1 has more than a schools worth of students in trailers every day. Crammed in lunch rooms beyond their design or eating in shifts, having breakout sessions in hallways and on stages, fighting or lever limited library or computer spaces/services and when was the last time a school added a bathroom?

I do believe that the large majority of the teachers, assistants and staff at the schools that I have met do the best that they can and really want the best for our students. In many cases they are also struggling to provide services in a system that changes with each year’s enrollment, their space limitations as well as exterior factors such as the State’s ever changing educational guidelines for things like IDEA (law in 03 rules in 07) and federal issues such as NCLB.

Again, I say get involved. Go to a meeting, get the reports and rely on more than this board for your information.

Yes, it may be time for another beverage, but I’m getting ready to wrap up.

So where does that leave us?
1. If you life in Glen Ellyn, your school district needs, is looking toward or current had building plans that will require a referendum tax increase – North or South, we are in that together.
2. If you live in the South, you may be living next to a vacant school (I think this possibility is low), the school you live near may become the D89 office, and/or you may have to watch your child attend a school that is not your local “home school.”
3. Dr. Perdue is a highly respect Super that is going to do the best he can, and is willing to listen to your concerns.
4. There really is no reason I can find anywhere why a town the size of GE needs 2 school districts. But as solutions go, this does mean redistricting and that also means change.
5. We have real problems that require real solutions that may need more money no matter what happens. I don’t know.

I would also like to thank Mark Pfefferman for chiming in on this board. Maybe we need more help from beyond the D41 or D89 staff to see where the best answers lay. To paraphrase and old joke’s punch line, I don’t want to just look in one spot because the light is better there – I want to look everywhere.

To close, I would like to thank gemom1 for moving this board along and onto a topic that needs more discussion, and also say to SoEllynGuy that merging may not be a joke. Before we turn it into one, we should stop looking at just one option at a time, and ask ourselves what we want to pay for and what we want from our schools. If our only answer is pay less and get more, than we should search our souls and start again. No, I don’t want to pay any more either, but I don’t like what we have and I don’t see an answer that I like on the horizon. Rather than sharing pain, I would love to share ideas.

I have seen a significant amount of intellectual capital pass through this board in the past years. It has often been attached to anger and rage (yes, I DO UNDERSTAND THAT AS WELL), but that doesn’t mean that this forum couldn’t be used as a way to gather ideas and build up support.

This town belongs to us, and I say that it’s time for us to take it.

Dear side of FRYs,

(whew. I need a cup of coffee after those various beverages...)

I agree with you on a great number of points. Although my primary experience is with d41, having been involved with the Long Range Planning Committee, I do find a VERY common problem in a majority of posts concerning the schools and other organizations.

Often, in order to understand a complex person or issue, people reduce them down to stereotypes. Think of the oversimplified characteristics the press and public use to put presidential candidates into cubbyholes. Bush was a simpleton, Kerry was a Flip-flopper, Obama a celebrity, Gore a braggart liar...until this characteristic is extracted and pinned like a flower to the lapel of the owner, we don't know how to view the subject.

I think there are far too many people who simply like to put on the oversimplified lenses that make the local school districts look mismanaged, the school board members and school staff look like buffoons throwing money at problems, and teachers like overpaid layabouts. The number of self-reinforcing posts that parrot this myopic view as a kind of mantra are mind-numbing.

I agree with you that there should be real and meaningful discussion of the D41 and D87 situations and solutions, rather than the simple insertion of "there they go again..." jibes that offer no solutions nor even express a particular desire to see more deeply into the real situations. Having resolved at one time to view the districts as mismanaged tax drains, they feel with the certainty of gospel that they need not take the time to think with any depth on the subject.

William

I tried to find old postings regarding all the reasons why merging the two districts is a win-win. I've been advocating for this for a very long time. I wrote a looooong letter to the editor years ago, which the Glen Ellyn Sun decided to not print but used as the basis for a research piece. They provided much of the information I cited regarding the benefits of a merger. Wish I could find it now....

I did find some old notes from previous discussions about merging (yes, I actually have a set of files I've saved on this topic because I really do think it needs to happen and I want to remember all of the facts and history).

The idea of merging has come about numerous times over the years. My efforts to push for this began in 2002. Twenty years before that the League of Women Voters acually led a research effort to determine the feasability of merging. At that time (27 years ago) the LWV determined that there were too many differences between the districts. Perhaps someone on this BB is a member of the LWV and can find out if they have this research saved in their archive??? I know that some of the issues were significant salary scale differences (I do not believe there is such a difference now), significant differences between benefits offerred to teachers/employees at each district (I do not know if these differences still exist), significant differences in the Gifted programs (again, don't know if this is still true), and tax rate difference was significant (not true any longer, believe it or not!).

Anyway, when I brought the issue up with a D41 board member, he said the process would be:
1. Start with a committee,
2. Start a ballot initiative in both distrcts,
3. Get an independent researcher.

So, if people on this BB and in this community are serious about exploring this, I'm always ready to help lead the way!

Benefits of merging include financial incentives from the state, lowering of administrative costs, more flexibility in terms of space/building usage, unifying our community - as it should be, and pooling of resources.

Just say the word and I'll get involved!