Group explores lawsuit against D204

Residents believe promises broken on Metea issue

Promises were made during the campaign to bring a third high school to Indian Prairie School District 204, but according to some residents, those promises are being broken.

About 200 of those residents packed the White Eagle Owner's Club on Tuesday evening to discuss filing a lawsuit to see if the courts can slow down the process, force the district to do more "due diligence," and maybe even make it keep its word and build Metea Valley High School on the Brach-Brodie property rather than the recently selected Eola site.

"I know people are going to stand up and say, 'That referendum was for a third high school, and not where it was going to be.' And, to be honest with you, that's what it said ... and that's a challenge," said Todd Andrews, a leader in a newly formed group of concerned residents called Neighborhood Schools for our Children. The group launched its Web site, www.nsfoc.org, and organized Tuesday's standing-room-only meeting.

"But I also can share with you," Andrews added, "... that that is completely contrary to what the district and the board represented to our community.

"I can tell you that there were pamphlets that were put out by the district that specifically said this referendum is voting for a school on Brach-Brodie land."

The group also invited attorney Shawn Collins to attend the meeting to answer questions. Collins said he has not been hired by the group and has not decided whether there is legal basis for a lawsuit.

He said he has been studying the situation for a little more than a week, and has a feeling "you folks are getting screwed."

Collins said he has collected facts that clearly indicate promises were made by district officials who wanted voters to believe Metea would be built on the Brach-Brodie property and that a certain set of attendance boundaries would be instituted upon the school's completion.

At this time, the district also concluded that the site at Eola and Molitor roads in Aurora was "disqualified" in part because of the environmental concerns surrounding it, Collins said.

The site is currently owned by St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church and Midwest Generation. Up until a year ago, Midwest Generation operated a natural gas-powered plant that produced electricity on the property.

Midwest Generation, which operated the plant, has agreed to pay for all cleanup of the site. Midwest Generation also has filed documents with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the site must meet with the IEPA's approval before the school will be built.

The Phase I and Phase II environmental studies, which include a historical look at the site and soil borings, are due back at the end of this week.

"You take those three major promises, and what has happened in the last couple weeks is that every one of them has been repudiated by the district," Collins said. "Everything they told you would come true if you voted to give them the money has proven to be false ...

"You voted them the money, at least enough of you did," he added. "... The referendum passed. You kept your end of the bargain. They didn't buy Brach-Brodie. They redrew the boundaries, and now they're buying a site they told you they would not buy with the money. And for that you have the privilege of getting your taxes raised."

Collins said the residents have a case, but it's not a "slam dunk" because there's "precious little" in the way of legal precedent for a suit in which residents would be demanding that a school district "either do what you said you were going to do with the money, or give it back." Whether residents pursue such a case is up to them, he said, but they should at least make themselves heard and they should try to resolve the matter "as quickly and expeditiously as possible."