Dist. 204 aims to put an end to Metea suit

Indian Prairie Unit District 204 attorneys today plan to file a motion to dismiss the lawsuit a parents group filed over where to build Metea Valley High School.

The parents group, Neighborhood Schools for Our Children, is weighing its options for preventing the district from working on the new site it selected for the school off Eola Road.

The group filed a lawsuit in March in DuPage County asking the court to force District 204 to buy the Brach-Brodie site at 75th Street and Commons Drive in Aurora as it had originally planned.

The district's pursuit of that site ended after a condemnation jury set the price of the land at $31 million -- $17 million more than the district anticipated.

The district then attempted to purchase property off Eola Road just south of Diehl Road near Aurora from Midwest Generation and St. John AME Church.

That site caused a firestorm from the parents group, which argued the district said during its referendum campaign that it would build Metea on the Brach-Brodie land. The parents also said environmental hazards at the new site make it inappropriate for a school.

In light of the controversy, Midwest Generation backed out of the deal and the district instead purchased 84 acres belonging solely to the church.

Despite that purchase, attorney Shawn Collins and the parents group are proceeding with their lawsuit.

"When we filed the lawsuit everything the district did after that it was doing at its own risk," he said. "It knew the possibility a judge would say at the end of the case they did not have the legal right to be doing what they're doing."

But Michael Scotti, an attorney for the district, said he will file a motion today to dismiss the lawsuit.

"The discretion to choose a school site and boundaries is reserved exclusively for the school board and not reserved for public elections," Scotti said. "The March 21, 2006, bond referendum was site neutral without limitation whatsoever as far as location or boundaries."

The court will hear that motion on May 23.

In the meantime, Collins said he and the parents group are exploring their options for asking a judge to grant a preliminary injunction or a trial to prevent the district from working on the site.

District leaders said they hope to begin work on the 3,000-student school by May 7 with an eye toward opening it to freshmen and sophomores in August 2009. They said the building is needed to address overcrowding at Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley high schools in the district that includes portions of Naperville, Aurora, Bolingbrook and Plainfield.

"I'm hoping to have a trial on the entire case to achieve permanent results as quickly as possible," Collins said.

The two sides also will be in court Friday to discuss whether mediation would be possible.

"I'm still thinking about it because I believe mediation is a good idea if compromise is available," Collins said. "I just don't know if compromise is available here any longer."

Scotti declined comment saying he would rather talk to Collins about the matter directly.