Glenbard East, West Aurora might have to delay leaving DVC
The wait for Glenbard East and West Aurora to leave the DuPage Valley Conference and join the Upstate Eight Conference just became a little longer.
Last week the DVC Board of Control decided by a majority vote that any school leaving the league for another conference must notify the DVC of its intentions by Dec. 1 for that school year to count toward the two-year stipulation in the DVC bylaws.
According to Wheaton Warrenville South principal Dave Claypool, president of the DVC Board of Control, that means the earliest Glenbard East and West Aurora could leave the DVC for the UEC and still adhere to DVC bylaws would be the 2015-16 school year.
The UEC invited both schools to join for the 2014-15 school year, and on Jan. 7 West Aurora's school board voted unanimously to leave the DVC for the UEC. Glenbard East, which on Tuesday hosted its second and final community forum on the issue, will put the conference change before the District 87 school board for a vote at its Feb. 11 meeting, according to principal Josh Chambers.
Although Glenbard East and West Aurora planned to join the UEC in 2014-15, the DVC bylaws may delay their departure for a year. It all depends on whether the two schools adhere to the bylaws, and indications are that they will adhere.
At Tuesday's community forum, Chambers told the crowd of about 100 parents that the move to the UEC is planned for 2015-16. It's a clear indication that, as Chambers has said previously, Glenbard East plans to adhere to the DVC bylaws.
According to West Aurora athletic director Jason Buckley, the Blackhawks aim to do the same.
“Our plan is to abide to the bylaws set forth by the DVC,” Buckley said Tuesday. “We're disappointed but not really all that surprised. We'd like a different outcome, but we'll move on.”
Claypool stressed the Dec. 1 deadline was needed to give the DVC enough time to react to the departure of one or more schools. West Chicago, which will leave the DVC for the UEC at the end of this school year, was allowed to leave early because Lake Park was prepared to replace the Wildcats by moving from the UEC to the DVC.
The UEC has yet to react to the DVC Board of Control's decision. Batavia athletic director Dave Andrews, president of UEC athletic directors, addressed the issue in an email sent Tuesday to the Daily Herald and noted the subject likely will be broached at a UEC meeting in early February.
“The question is whether this year satisfies the two-year DVC bylaw,” Andrews wrote. “If not, then the earliest they may enter is 2015-16. That issue is still yet to be resolved.”
One issue resolved is the rapidly approaching deadline of Jan. 31 issued by the UEC for Glenbard East to decide whether or not it is accepting the UEC's invitation to join. Because the District 87 school board will not vote on the matter until February, Andrews said an extension has been granted.
Dave Oberhelman contributed
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