What it appeared to be, Rose, was that tentative plans would be made for the start of school and something more concrete for the rest of the year would be discussed around Labor Day.

Maybe this would be a good time for the teachers union to stand up and show that money is not their motivator, and go back to the old(sustainable) method of having the teachers paying for their own pensions instead of the school board paying 100% of it for them.

@Tim....good idea. We'll quickly see how many are here "for the kids" and how many run to a district that funds it. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

Pay close attention, because the teachers silence on the pension issue will give an answer to whether they are in it for the money, or in it for the good of the students.

Each and every teacher gets to vote for their union representative, and if they vote in a rep as a group that does not press to fix this obvious giveaway, then each and every teacher is to blame.

Lots of people have begun to pay attention to exactly this pension issue over the past few months, and are getting angry at the silence coming from the union in fixing the problems that threaten to effect every student in the district. Each time they talk about a budget defecit, or making more cuts to programs, it is just making them angrier. It would be in the unions best interest to address this now, while they still have some support left in the community, because if they do nothing, then they will lose any and all support when the actual pension costs are shifted back from the state to the community that made the 'deals'.

Right now, they are playing a game of chicken for a fat paycheck, with your children as the bargaining chip. Anger doesn't even begin to describe the feeling that is spreading to more and more residents every day.

@ Tim. Well said sir. They still do not get IT
Taxpayers are the providers. Not the unions. The monster is biting the hand that feeds them.

Well...we all know the BOE will take the fall. But really when did it all begin? When developers began building the flood of houses, spurred on my a reduction of the transition fees they would have paid. Why? Because slick marketing on the part of the Village and the School District and the Developers brought was the so called boom in population. Everyone that moved here in the last 15 years wasn't suddenly born into adulthood. You came from somewhere and when you did you needed things and in some cased demanded things. So they were built. Schools, fire houses, and so forth. So the real blame rests with the individual who thought the good times were endless. How did people think this was going to get paid. You rack up your personal credit when your job is good with little to no consideration for how it will be paid if disaster strikes. Government is supposed to be responsible. Well they are our neighbors, why would you assume they are any better at handling money than the average person?

I'll agree with Lee on this one. I've lived here all my life and this is one nightmare of a mess. We are sinking further and further down that hole and not sure where it all ends. I was born and raised here and never chose any of this. I would have preferred it stay that small town I grew up in but the change came and now we're all paying the price. I figure the worse that can happen at this point is we file bankruptcy and then someone else decides what we can and can't do.

As much as it distresses me to even have to suggest it...let's drop the big one and see what happens. What if we defaulted on a payment obligation? Would it really do much more than embrace the inevitable? Or...would it allow remaining finances to be utilized in a manner that would not require a major tax hike. What I'm saying is that 308 needs to consider filing for relief and get some of these obligations either reduced, waived, or eliminated via the court system.
There...I said it. The elephant is in the room folks. If we can no longer sustain growth and improvements, and cannot meet our obligations without increasing the burden to property owners, then we may have to take an undesirable route. For those that say it will kill our credit rating and jeopardize future borrowing, I say poppycock. We may not get the most favorable terms, but that may make people think twice before committing to activities that require financing. Besides, if we look at the rate of return on our bonds, there is a good chance that the issuing company, or companies (GS, ML, etc) may have screwed us out of a higher interest rate, in fact, that's a probability not a mere accusation.
So lets start exploring the idea of dropping the big one. At best, it will get our creditors to the table to work out an affordable solution. At worse, we just arrive at an inevitable position a bit earlier. Sounds bad, but folks, it is bad.

Mr. Harrison that is the best idea I've heard from anyone! I'm grateful that we have someone with the ability to put this entire mess into perspective. There are so many who want to sugar coat this mess and put blinders on. We can't afford to do that. We're a sinking ship and it's going down fast, we need help now before it's too late. If our BOE thinks they can go to the taxpayers and ask for more that's not going to happen. There are so many of us that are stretched to the max. Paying more in taxes with only cause more hardship and make a bad situation worse. I have tried several times to sell but it's the same outcome, my taxes are killing the sale.
I wish that you would consider running for the board next time around! We could use someone with your insight! Thank You for your input!

Whowwww. Define your comment before you get all in a tither there.

"Yes Walt, we know. It's all our fault for moving here. We ruined your little utopian town. Get over it already."

So. You moved here with intent to ruin Oswego. Nice.

No need to ruin the state, because those of your kind have ruined it already.

Congratulations

Julie, this cracked me up until I read Oswego mom 2011's comment, which made me sad because SOMEONE apparently doesn't understand the concept of sarcasm.

I wouldn't say that you ruined it but look at it realistically. Oswego had around 3 to 5000 people before the building boom. I lived in Chicago for 30 years and until I moved to Geneva I had never heard of Oswego. How many other people only learned of Oswego because you saw it on an advertisement...BIG HOMES...LESS MONEY...OSWEGO SCHOOLS...so to Oswego you came. The problem was that the Village had been pretty stable for many years at the old population. In a matter of a few years it increased 10 times. The new schools, fire stations, park facilities, etc were not build because there was nothing better to do, they were built to accommodate the growth. Did Walt or Lee cause the growth? No. Who did....everyone that moved here. That's not a problem. The problem is that those who moved here, thus requiring the building don't seem to understand that it is because of that, and the refusal to understand that the bubble had to burst (read your history books, economic expansion does not go on forever).

What a great guy to come through your neighborhood and point out the obvious.

Yes, exactly. Imagine that.
And no egg mcmuffins on the way to school
Geesh

This is such a ridiculous comment.I love that idea that. by asking that our children be bused to school (FYI, we live almost exactly 1.5 miles from our school), we're somehow acting "entitled." Do you realize that every other district in this area can't BELIEVE what's going on here? It's not like i'm asking them to take my child in a limo. Good God.

With what? The State of Illinois is dead last of all fifty states in financial health, even California is in better shape. They are nine months in arrears in paying the bills they currently owe. There is NO money at the state level, zero!!! This despite massive increases to the state sales and income taxes, which only led to more spending. These people in Springfield are a greater danger to society than most of the inmates in our prison system. Notice to local government, get used to reduced support from the state and the local taxpayer, we're tapped out, we have our families to worry about. The message is clear and simple, quit spending money you do not have. Business as usual is OVER, we are headed for a cliff; major reductions in services are the ONLY reasonable course of action. This is the "new" normal in America, we have NO leadership at any level and until we "get that", we will continue to flounder as we have for the last four years.

its all about whom you vote for. spenders or people that live within means. Less is more. Look at Wisconsin and Indiana....

As I said, in previous years the administration and BOE made the cuts to keep the budget balanced. I assume they will do the same again, but how many are aware that there an awful lot of unfunded mandates from both the state and federal governments?

This district is not extravagant. The teachers' pay is average compared with surrounding schools and they are continually required to do more with less. Instead of vilifying them, how are you trying to help?

Like it or not, we're all in this together. I personally will continue to support our teachers who do an outstanding job in a community that at times frightens me with its lack of respect for education and educators.

And for the record, I don't have any family ties to anyone in education nor does anyone in my family "suck at the public teat" or whatever the insult du jour is.

Julie every single post that I have the right to comment on is not about you, hate to break it to you. I used the word "preferred" which is my opinion and I most certainly didn't use the "new people" on just about every single post. Being an attorney I think you would know the difference. I also don't think I have the key to the land of "Hines", I would have preferred it stayed that small farming town but the change came. I'm not boarded up in my home protesting, I'm working 3 jobs to keep the roof over my kids head and to make sure I pay my taxes to this community.
What I do have a problem with is people who are now here and all they can do is complain about the choice they made. You hate this horrible school district ( I'm sure the teachers appreciate that comment) then send your children to a private school or move. You made a comment about getting the GD bus back, there's an example for our kids. Why stay, seems to me your life is miserable here maybe you should have stopped at Naperville.
I find your lack of respect for others opinions to be part of the problems we all face today. It's not your way or mine but a blending of us all. We're facing some very tough times right now and have a long way to go. We're either going to sink or swim and all I can see is the leak, that would be another opinion and exercising my 1st amendment right.

Opinions are one thing, putting words in someone's mouth is another.

On these points, I agree. I have moved here in the last decade and a half. No, I did not move here because of advertisements and I didn't buy a home in a community built by any of the big builders. We chose to move here because we felt the community in which we lived was not one that necessarily reflected our values and we wanted to be somewhere that was more like the places that we called home when we were growing up. Not a place where it was "Keeping Up with The Jonesesville".

Didn't buy a McMansion but have still seen my home's value decline by six figures plus. Always knew I would be paying more because the residential base was what would support the community, not business. Still, am disappointed that I don't think the governing bodies spend that money wisely. That includes far more than 308.

But, and I've said this before, I absolutely understand why long-time residents are angry and perhaps bitter, about the changes that have come from the population growth and how it has hit their family's budget. Absolutely, I get that. If you have lived here for forever and then watch the checks you write get bigger and bigger when you probably never wanted the growth in the first place, heck yeah - I get why you feel as you do.

However, we are all in it now and there's nothing that can be done but deal with what is in front of us. But yes, I understand the sentiment!

Somebody get me a chair - I read Russ's comment and kept nodding my head in agreement! I live in a newer subdivision that is still not finished and there are gaps in our sidewalks. In the past the buses have tried to make stops so kids didn't walk through muddy empty yards or on the street, but I agree completely it's time for someone, the associations or the towns - to step up and at least finish some sidewalks.
I'm amazed sometimes that some of the same parents in my neighborhood that complain their child has to walk SO FAR to a bus stop (3 houses away), are the same ones that watch their kids play in the street, or go on bike rides for miles at a time. I guess poor little Robby only has energy to exert for play, not for something silly like getting to school.

Rich Saunders> Yeah, me too. Sort of takes the fun out of it when we agree, lol.

The sidewalk on Mill Road that is across the street from Fox Chase....never was there originally..it was put in oh maybe 5 or 6 years ago...guess who paid the bill....DISTRICT 308...I yelled at that time why the hell was the school installing a sidewalk on VILLAGE land? the VILLAGE gets the sales tax revenue from the stores...how about they cough it up for a change

Walk a mile??? Come on....they would be in danger of loosing fat!

what? too harsh? Too sarcastic? too close to what's happened in the past?

Oh I understand the timing and I recall the crossing guards being a point of contention for a bit. My issue was the school district paying for the sidewalk. It couldn't have been negotiated with the village to be a joint venture or something the village paid for? I mean do only school kids use it? Does it not provide some benefit to the village as a whole?