Soapbox: District 300 puts FOIA online
Community Unit District 300 recently began offering Freedom of Information Act forms and documents on the district's Web site, www.d300.org. If you click on the "Freedom of Information Act" link, you will be able to access downloadable FOIA request forms, documents released as part of FOIA requests, and information on how to file a request and your rights under the FOIA and the Open Meetings Act. District 300 also plans to post more public documents online this year. The district has already made school board meeting packets, news releases and other documents available on its Web site in the past year. Call (847) 426-1300, ext. 304.
Beware of busing
While parents and taxpayers should be thrilled to have so much information available, one can only imagine how frustrated they must be by District 300's continuing inability to bus kids properly. For what seems like a habit dating back to forever, yet another school year opened with District 300 unable to pick up and deliver students with consistency. It doesn't seem to matter how the district does its busing -- internally, with a manager or with a private contract. Kids are left in the lurch, and parents are left wondering where their kids are while just a few miles south, Elgin School District U-46 can move 40,000 kids twice daily with great efficiency.
Beyond belief
When an individual chooses an unusual lifestyle, people generally just nod, sometimes roll their eyes and basically leave him or her to his own choices. When that person is a teacher bent on foisting personal choices like a vegan diet onto children, however, tolerance is harder to find. School officials removed Fox River Grove Middle School teacher Dave Warwak from his position after he apparently crossed the line from informing to proselytizing. And he has grown less rational since, threatening to sue the district if it doesn't convert to an all-vegan school menu and arguing that he didn't receive the training on "moral and humane education" to which he is entitled. Which suggests he might be better off working for a vegan food store than a public school system.
A tragic mistake
An experienced bicyclist certainly should be aware of the dangers that face him on any ride, one of which is any activity that makes him unable to hear danger approaching. Police said a 42-year-old veteran bicyclist from St. Charles, was listening to his iPod and likely didn't hear an approaching freight train at a Canadian National Railroad crossing west of Burlington. He was killed when struck by the train. Proof that even the most experienced rider can make a serious mistake. And that the inclination of some people to be plugged in every second is an inclination to be resisted.
Make debt well-planned
"If we don't take out another bond, we will be limping along making repairs, and we will be right back where we were." So said Carpentersville Finance Director Lisa Happ of the village's need to sell more bonds in order to sustain its infrastructure improvements plan. She's right. But so is Trustee Paul Humpfer, who said the village must have a repayment plan in place before taking on additional debt. That repayment might require higher fees, taxes or water/sewer rates. Debt is a necessity for big projects, but as current headlines show readily enough, taking on debt beyond one's ability to repay it is even worse.