District 308 Boundary Committee Meeting Open—For Now

The Superintendent’s Boundary Committee will hold its first meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

It will be open to the public as district officials await word on whether future committee meetings can be held without members of the public or press present. The committee is made up of about 45 community volunteers.

“We’re keeping this one open since it’s most an informational, getting-started meeting,” said Kristine Liptrot, the district’s director of communications.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in rooms E134 and E136 at

At the to again discuss with Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis whether the committee meetings should be subject to the Open Meetings Act. O’Donnell had previously discussed the subject with Weis, and Weis said the meetings are subject to the act.

Reached last week, Weis said he based his opinion on case law and a similar judgment he made in 2009 regarding a district overcrowding committee. That earlier opinion was reached with extensive consultation of the Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office.

“As with the Overcrowding Committee, this committee will be making recommendations to the Board regarding a matter of public concern, it has received some direction from the board itself as to its purpose and scope, it is not addressing an internal or sensitive matter for which the public should be excluded, and it was created at the request of the board and will ultimately report back its findings to the board,” Weis wrote in an email to O’Donnell.

Weis’ judgment did not sit well with staff members nor board members who said the meetings need to be held privately so that committee members may talk openly without fear of community reprisal regarding different scenarios for new school boundaries.

If Weis gives a similar opinion, O’Donnell was directed to take the matter to Madigan’s office.

Listed as agenda items for Tuesday’s meeting are “discussing the charge of the committee, the history of District 308’s growth, enrollment projections, building capacity issues, meeting guidelines and procedures and a schedule for future meetings.”