Articles filed under Indian Prairie Unit District 204

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  Jeanine Nicarico Run for Reading to support children’s literacy May 14, 2012 12:00 AM
  A 5K walk and run honoring the life of 10-year-old murder victim Jeanine Nicarico will raise money for children's literacy Sunday, May 20, in Naperville. Participants in the 11th Annual Run for Reading step off at 7:30 a.m. from River Woods Elementary School, 2607 River Woods Drive.
  

   

• More layoffs, principal appointments in District 204 May 8, 2012 12:00 AM
  Bilingual assistants, reading tutors, library assistants and secretaries were among the latest staffers laid off from Indian Prairie District 204 Monday night. At the same time board members named three new principals and a district treasurer.
  

   

• Tentative teachers contract reached in Dist. 204 May 5, 2012 12:00 AM
  Indian Prairie District 204 and its teachers union reached a tentative agreement on a two-year contract, the district said this week. The union is scheduled to vote on the contract May 24. If the contract is approved, it will be up for a school board vote June 4.
  

   
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  Former Metea teacher begins sentence for sexually assaulting student May 1, 2012 12:00 AM
  A former physics teacher at Metea Valley High School reported to a DuPage County courtroom Tuesday to begin serving a six-year prison term for sexually assaulting a student at a Naperville hotel. Robert C. Smith, 28, embraced and shook hands with more than a dozen relatives, friends and other supporters before he was taken into custody.
  

   

• Story of Leeslyee, Nick and Metea simply amazingApr 29, 2012 12:00 AM
  "Amazing" is probably an overused word, says DuPage Editor Jim Davis. But it fits perfectly the tale of the drunken driver who helped his victim attend her missed prom, the Metea Valley High School community that helped make it happen and the reporter who wrote a gem of a story about it.
  

   

• Dist. 204 penny pinching continues in effort to save library jobs Apr 18, 2012 12:00 AM
  Ideas for penny pinching in Indian Prairie District 204 have come to things like hosting a triathlon or renting district property for garden plots. Those were some of the 20 brainstormed notions considered and then abandoned as the district sought to come up with $400,000 to save jobs of library media assistants. Their hours will be reduced in the next school year by the equivalent of seven full-time positions.
  

   

• The Soapbox Apr 7, 2012 12:00 AM
  Daily Herald editors offer their thoughts on such topics as superintendent searches, credit card fees and the "natural war zone" left after the emerald ash borer invasion.
  

   

• District 204 to lay off 160 full- and part-timers Apr 5, 2012 12:00 AM
  More than 160 full- and part-time staff members are being laid off in Indian Prairie District 204, the result of continuing budget cutbacks. School board members said they anticipate hiring back at least 80 full-time staff members to fill positions left open through retirements and attrition.
  

   

• Partnership could save District 204 middle school soccer Apr 4, 2012 12:00 AM
  A private partnership might not only save middle school soccer in Indian Prairie Unit District 204, but also allow the program to double in size. The cash-strapped district initially discussed scrapping the soccer program while also reducing some high school sports programming to save $100,000 as part of an effort to reduce a projected $8.6 million deficit in next year's budget. District layoffs and other cost-cutting measures also are in the works. But a proposed partnership with the Wheatland Athletic Association offers the district some new options.
  

   
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  Second top administrator leaving District 203 Apr 3, 2012 12:00 AM
  Naperville Unit District 203, already losing its captain on June 30, has also learned a first mate is also jumping ship at the end of the school year. Superintendent Mark Mitrovich and Chief Academic Officer Kathy Duncan are both leaving the district on June 30, just months before the board is expected to restart conversations about installing an all-day kindergarten program, instituting the second phase of the two-phase boundary plan and preparing for the adoption of the Common Core curriculum standards.
  

   
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  Ex-Aurora physics teacher pleads guilty to sex assault on studentMar 15, 2012 12:00 AM
  A former Metea Valley High School physics teacher pleaded guilty Thursday to sexually assaulting a 16-year-old student at a Naperville hotel. Robert C. Smith, 28, will be sentenced to six years in prison under the terms of a plea agreement. He also must register as a sex offender for life.
  

   

• District 204 trying to save middle school soccer Mar 13, 2012 12:00 AM
  Amid a sixth-grader's petitions and other pressure, Indian Prairie Unit District 204 board members are discussing ways to save middle school soccer. Officials plan to approach the Wheatland Athletic Association to see if it would be interested in sponsoring the program. Then, soccer would not officially be a middle school sport, but students would represent their schools and use district fields.
  

   
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  Neuqua Valley aide pleads guilty to sex abuse Mar 6, 2012 12:00 AM
  A former teacher's aide at Neuqua Valley High School must register as a sex offender after pleading guilty to sexually abusing a 17-year-old student. Deborah Cox, 58, of the 200 block of Scots Drive in Naperville, pleaded guilty in Will County court Friday to aggravated criminal sexual abuse and was sentenced to four years of sex-offender probation.
  

   

• District 204 refinances, saves $2 million Mar 1, 2012 12:00 AM
  Taxpayers in Indian Prairie District 204 will save about $2 million during the next six year because of the refinancing of about $21 million in debt. Loans taken out in 2003 carried interest rates of between 4 and 5 percent, Assistant Superintendent Dave Holm said. Those loans can be refinanced at rates between .5 percent to 1.7 percent.
  

   

• Dist. 204 pushing for more grants, partnerships Feb 29, 2012 12:00 AM
  In an effort to continue to meet students’ needs, Indian Prairie District 204 is making more of an effort to go after grant money in addition to seeking out more community partnerships. “We’re in different times now, where we’re all seeking to find money anywhere that we can,” Superintendent Kathy Birkett said.
  

   

• Sports likely to take budget hit in District 204 Feb 28, 2012 12:00 AM
  Extracurricular sports programs at Indian Prairie Unit District 204 schools likely will take a hit as the district looks to plug an $8.6 million deficit in its budget. Monday night, district officials presented the 204 school board with plans to reduce the athletic budget by $100,000 and dropping library media center assistants’ hours from full to part time. “It pains me that we’re even having to have some of the discussions that we’ve been having,” Superintendent Kathy Birkett said.
  

   

• Dist. 204 substitute teacher banned after duct tape incident Feb 22, 2012 12:00 AM
  A substitute teacher will never work again at an Indian Prairie Unit District 204 school after doing nothing to stop a fourth-grader from binding himself with duct tape, officials said Wednesday. A school official said she was not sure if the 10-year-old student bound his wrists on his own, but said the teacher “should never have allowed this to happen.”
  

   

• District 204 facing $9.4 million in budget cuts Feb 14, 2012 12:00 AM
  Indian Prairie Unit District 204 is bracing for $9.4 million in budget cuts next year that may include laying off about 114 teachers, support staff members and administrators along with raising student fees, eliminating some athletic programs and extracurricular offerings, and closing the district’s Frontier Campus. Officials are hopeful the district can absorb the layoffs by rehiring staff to fill jobs vacated by retiring employees, much as it did in 2011 when the district cut more than $20 million from its budget.
  

   

• Cops: Two charged in ambush beating of Metea classmate Feb 13, 2012 12:00 AM
  Two Metea Valley High School students have been charged and a third is under investigation after a 17-year-old classmate was ambushed and beaten in the school parking lot, Aurora police confirmed Monday. "It was pretty one-sided," Lt. Pete Inda said.
  

   
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  Naperville school must endure another tragedy Feb 6, 2012 12:00 AM
  The murder of second-grade teacher Shaun Wild is the second tragedy to strike Naperville's Spring Brook Elementary School this year. “We lost an entire great family in January, and now we've lost a beloved teacher and friend in Shaun Wild,” Principal Dave Worst said. “This year has certainly come with challenges, that's for sure. We're working through it all together.”