Bus Barn Follies Continue – Board Approves Site Access Work
September 10, 2008
The Geneva School Board continues it’s quest to build the district’s second bus barn on the 27 acres at Keslinger and Brundige. According to the meeting minutes :
10. The Board moved into Executive Session to consider matters
pertaining to the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline,
performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body or legal
counsel for the public body and probable or imminent litigation at 7:44 p.m.
11. The Board returned to open session at 8:22 p.m. and voted
to support the administrative recommendation regarding the agreement with the
Kane County Department of Transportation to cooperatively make improvements to
Keslinger Road and to develop access to the District’s 27-acre property at
Keslinger and Brundige.
12. The meeting was adjourned at 8:24 p.m.
No details of what the amendment covers, no details of what they plan to spend, apparently just the bare basic minimum legally required disclosure. I did a quick search of the local newspapers to see if any of them covered the story. Nothing in the Kane County Chronicle or the Geneva Republican. Not a news story and certainly not an editorial. So much for our free press being the watchdog. I guess to really find out what’s going on, I’m going to need to learn how to file Freedom of Information Act requests.
Then today in Newsweek, I came across this story written by Caitlin McDevitt. It seems that in many school districts, Boards are cutting bus routes and encouraging walking where feasible (hmmm……..to Mill Creek and Fabyan Elementary perhaps?) in an attempt to save money. According to the story and I quote,
“Like the rest of us, school districts are feeling pinched by rising fuel costs—and finding new ways to adapt. The diesel fuel that powers school buses now costs an average of $4.28 a gallon, up 34 percent in the past two years. Cities and states spend $14.7 billion annually transporting kids to school; for the typical school district, bus bills total 5 percent of the budget. As administrators look to trim, busing is an inviting target, since it doesn’t affect classroom instruction (or test scores). According to a survey done by the in July, more than one third of school administrators have eliminated bus stops or routes in order to stay within budget. “When you have to make tough choices,” says Daniel Domench, executive director of the AASA, “you cut back on what’s least harmful.”
Interesting isn’t it? The Kane County Board finally institutes a hiring freeze in recognition of reduced tax revenues, most school districts are trying to find ways to save money and yet this Board continues to forge ahead with this unnecessary waste of tax dollars. Can anyone explain why?
