Most folks unhappy with their elected officials might simply say things are going to hell in a handcart–but on the North Shore, many people like to be more lyrical and inventive.
At Monday’s meeting of the School Board for New Trier Township High School District 203, there were a number of references to hell–most of them literary ones.
Michael Masters, class of 1997, even intoned a phrase from Dante’s “Inferno” in an impassioned speech asking that the board not create a freshman-only campus, suggesting that to do so would demonstrate a lack of leadership: “The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crisis preserve their neutrality,” he said.
Residents and board members have been wrangling over whether the district should keep one school or create two four-year schools. The feeling among residents was that a freshmen-only campus combined with a three-year high school was the chicken’s way out for a board caught between a rock and a hard place.
More Top Picks What Are Colored Overlays And How Do They Help Reading
Masters’ quote was picked up and rephrased by School Board members as they justified their unanimous vote for a freshmen-only campus, saying the move is an important interim step in allowing time for further study.
As to whether the vote is a one-way ticket to hell, Board Member Adair Waldenberg said at the meeting, “If I’m going to burn in hell, at least I’m making a conscious decision to do it.” And Board Member Bill Johnson said, “The future will decide where Dante would put me.”
Masters, a history major at the University of Michigan, said the choice of Dante’s quote was a logical one. It graces the walls of one of the staircases at New Trier.
Jobs for lawyers: Open space advocates in Glenview are abuzz over talk that a developer’s bid on the 20-acre Wagner Farm may have gone sour.
One official for Glenview State Bank on Wednesday indicated there may be a “contractual problem” but would not say it was enough to foul up the deal.
At Dartmoor Homes, however, Bill Laytin, executive vice president and general counsel, said, “We have a valid contract, and we have complied fully with the terms.”
Whatever happens, the Park District expects to go ahead with its lawsuit to condemn the property so it can turn the land into a farm museum.
Unionizing: Students at Evanston Township High School are talking about creating a black student union, similar to those that exist on many college campuses.
Kerene Tayloe, an African-American junior, said the idea came out of recent student discussions about ways to improve the academic achievement of minority students at the high school.
But the idea got a lukewarm welcome at Monday’s School Board meeting.
“I can see this becoming very divisive,” said Board Member Margaret Lurie. “I can see there being a white student union, then a Jewish student union and a Muslim student union.”
Move it or lose it: Members of the Save the Cottage Association in Evanston are working on a design plan showing how a 1930s gas station on Dempster Street could look if moved to an island in the middle of Sherman Avenue just south of Davis Street.
The group, which is trying to raise $50,000 for the move, wants the building to be used as a tourist information center or an outpost for the Evanston Chamber of Commerce.
Property owner Ira Rose has given preservationists until June 30 to move the structure.