District 204: Discussion closed on sibling policy, Neuqua council president

True to their word, Indian Prairie school board members listened this week to a few parents' concerns about separating siblings in high school and a father's plea for his son to get another chance to be student council president.

But Unit District 204 board President Curt Bradshaw had warned neither issue would be discussed and he was right.

The sibling issue, he said, was closed last fall and Rodney Boyd Jr.'s attempt to be Neuqua Valley High School senior class president is an issue between Boyd and Neuqua administrators.

Board members decided in October they would follow the same transition process in opening the new Metea Valley High School in Aurora that they used when Neuqua Valley High School opened in 1997 in south Naperville. That policy will affect 44 students at Neuqua and about 100 students at Waubonsie Valley.

Students who were eighth-graders and freshmen this past year and who live in an attendance area where high school boundaries have changed will move to their new high schools in August.

Students who were sophomores or juniors this past year will remain at their existing high schools.

There will be no "grandfathering" of students who are scheduled to move to allow them to stay with older siblings at their current high school.

Bradshaw gave anyone even thinking of speaking about the sibling issue a warning Monday to save their breath.

"It's just fair to let everyone know that the decision was made in October. The information came to the board in October because that was really the point of no return.

"Since that time we've had students register for classes. We've had school schedules put together. Teachers have been allocated and assigned to buildings and contractually, teachers have been assigned to buildings as of June 1," he said. "All of those things have occurred as a conversation we have had in open session.

"So I just want to make everyone aware that that's the conversation we had and the decision that was made in October. There's rumors that the conversation was open for discussion again and we felt that was a rumor that was important to address before public comment."

Rodney Boyd, Sr. and the family's pastor, meanwhile, asked the district to reconsider allowing his son to run for student council president and pleaded for Neuqua Valley to enact a student council constitution that specifically addresses how candidates are selected and whether write-in votes are counted.

The younger Boyd has served on student council since his days at Scullen Middle School and was elected president of both his sophomore and junior classes at Neuqua. His two class sponsors, refused to give Boyd their endorsement to run for senior class president, citing leadership issues. The endorsement was the only requirement of three Boyd lacked; he applied on time and received a positive recommendation from his guidance counselor.

He received a large number of write-in votes for the senior president post, but Neuqua administrators refused to count them.