Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Architect gives first inkling a timeline for capital improvements to Highland Park and Deerfield High Schools.
Another step toward formulating a master plan for capital improvements at Deerfield and Highland Park High Schools was taken by the Township High School District 113 Board of Education at its meeting Monday. The Board received a preliminary time line for the development of the plan from the architecture firm of Perkins & Will. At next month’s Board meeting, Perkins & Will will offer a firm schedule with a maximum cost for plan development. Earlier: Dist. 113 Leadership Team Presents Findings The preliminary presentation raised persistent questions from Board President Harvey Cohen about whether to spend any money on the next phase of the study without a definitive answer on whether preservation of the 1914 Buildings at Highland Park is …
Friday, June 1, 2012
District 113 School Board's letter to the editor explains capital improvement progress and philosophy for future.
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Friday, June 1, 2012
Dear Community Members: In the April 2011 general election, District 113 Board of Education’s proposed referendum designed to update the aging and inadequate facilities at Highland Park and Deerfield High Schools was defeated. These facility needs have not gone away; they remain urgent and critical. The District administration and the Board are determined to continue to work closely with the community to develop an acceptable long term plan to address these needs and update our schools in order to provide our students with a 21st century education in facilities that are safe, productive and conducive to learning. More than one year ago, the District developed a plan to engage ALL those members of the community willing to get involved, …
Steindler, Shapiro spar over demographics and vision.
As capital improvement ideas for Highland Park and Deerfield High Schools take a step forward, the divisiveness in the community over the failed $133 million referendum a year ago has ebbed but not gone away. Members of the Township High School District 113 leadership team presented their ideas at a May 21 District 113 School Board meeting. At the same time, a representative from Education First presented that group’s specific plan for the two schools. Earlier: Dist. 113 Leadership Team Presents Findings Education First was the primary group opposing the 2011 referendum and continues to advocate its positions about the schools’ needs. The community group supporting the referendum was CARE. Though its members remain involved in the process …
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
More than half who voted in latest Patch poll favor the proposals set forth by the Leadership team over the plan proposed by Education First.
As Education First lobbies for its capital improvement plan for Deerfield and Highland Park High Schools, the majority of readers responding to Patch’s latest unscientific poll prefer the less specific ideas presented by the Township High School District 113 leadership team. Of the 209 people responding to the poll, 115 like the ideas of the leadership team best, 51 chose the Education First proposal while 37 want the District to find a common ground between the two sets of ideas. Earlier: Poll: Which Plan Should 113 Adopt Walter Trip Hainsfurther, who was one of the two people who presented the leadership team’s findings at the District 113 School Board meeting May 21, believes the final plan will be somewhere in between the Education …
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Will the leadership team’s report or the Education First proposal suit Deerfield and Highland Park High Schools best? Or, is there a third way?
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Will the leadership team’s report or the Education First proposal suit Deerfield and Highland Park High Schools? Or, is there a third way?
Two plans for capital improvements were presented to the Township High School District 113 Board of Education Monday to meet the long term needs of Highland Park and Deerfield High Schools. One proposal came from the District’s citizen leadership team, which has been working with five other committees to reexamine the needs of the two schools since voters in the District rejected a $133 million proposal to update the two schools over a year ago. The leadership team’s outline lists priorities in tiers that it believes merit the Board’s attention with the top rung taken care of ahead of other ideas. The swimming pools at both schools are in the top tier. A more detailed look can be found on the District’s website. The other plan proposes two…
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Administration continues to defend denial of FOIA requests for information.
Township High School District 113 has erected a stone wall around the raw data to a survey released in March that measured community interest and opinion in capital improvements to Deerfield and Highland Park High Schools. After a $133 million referendum for improvements at the two schools was defeated a year ago, the District reached out to members of the community to seek input and guidance before developing a new plan. Earlier: Community Joins 113 Effort in Force Patch and at least three others made requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for the raw data used to create the marketing committee's report on the survey. All were denied. Patch made its request May 7 and the District denied it May 14. “A majority of the members …
District 113 Superintendent George Fornero gives detailed response to District’s denial of FOIA request.
Editor's Note—Patch asked Township High School District 113 Superintendent George Fornero to respond to questions for a story. He wrote the following letter. Though parts of his response are incorporated into a separate story on this page, the letter is published here in its entirety. In May, 2011, District 113 reached out to residents to volunteer for study groups that would analyze and prioritize the needs at Deerfield and Highland Park High Schools. Six groups were established, one of those groups was the Market Research Committee. This group was made up of professionals with expertise in the field. We would not have been able to afford their services if members hadn’t volunteered for free. The market research group decided to conduct…
Friday, May 11, 2012
More than 80 percent of Patch readers want community survey raw data released.
More than 80 percent of Patch readers responding to a poll asking whether Township High School District 113 should release the raw data from its community survey studying public opinion about capital improvements want the information made public. Of the 135 people who responded to Patch’s unscientific survey, 112 want the District to release the information while 23 are content with the decision not to make the data public. Earlier: Patch Poll: Should 113 Raw Data Be Shared? Just over a year ago, local voters rejected a referendum to make $133 million worth of capital improvements to Deerfield and Highland Park High Schools including upgrades to athletic facilities and replacing a structure at Highland Park nearly 100 years old. Patch …
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Passions on projects at Deerfield and Highland Park High Schools remain high.
When Sam Shapiro resigned from the Township High School District 113 Leadership committee Wednesday in part because of the failure of the District to release raw data from its community survey, it touched a nerve with Patch readers. Patch now wants to know whether its readers want the raw data released. Our latest unscientific poll will measure a people’s opinions. We have also made a request to the District for the information under the Freedom of Information Act. Earlier: Resignation Shatters Calm on 113 Project District 113 released its findings in March. A summary can be found on the District website. At least 30 people added their comments to the article about Shapiro’s resignation renewing the debate that engulfed the community a …
Anne
12:52 pm on Tuesday, June 19, 2012
I didn't include the maintenance of DHS simply because of its age, but the overall maintenance and upkeep of DHS isn't any better, the difference is that because of the age of DHS the costs associated with its renovation are less and the need for improvement is less; however neither building is in the shape that someone who moved from the city to the North Shore would have expected and given the … more ›