Monthly Archives: March 2011

Peoria Public Schools

New principal assignments at D150

185 Comments

District 150 recently announced numerous reassignments of school principals. They are listed on the district’s website, but as a service to my readers, I’m reprinting them here:

Name Current School 2011-2012 Appointment
John Wetterauer Charter Oak Charter Oak
Jane Cushing Franklin Franklin
Kevin Curtin Garfield Irving
Annette Coleman Glen Oak Glen Oak
Veralee Smith Harrison Harrison
Jamie Brown Hines Hines
Michael Barber Irving Rolling Acres
Patsy Santen Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson
Ken Turner Kellar Kellar
Nicole Woods Northmoor Northmoor
Renee Andrews Whittier Whittier
Angela Stockman Woodrow Wilson Trewyn
Diann Duke Valeska Woodruff Career and Technical Center
Tom Blumer Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge
Cindy Janovetz Columbia Manual Chief Turnaround Officer
Ursula Brown Lincoln Lincoln
Michael Plunkett Lindbergh Lindbergh
Scott Montgomery Mark Bills Woodrow Wilson
Deloris Turner Rolling Acres Retiring
Noly Branscumb Roosevelt Roosevelt
James Jemilo Sterling Jamieson
Eric Thomas Trewyn Knoxville Center for Success
Dave Obergfel Von Steuben Retiring
Joan Wojcikewych Washington Director of Curriculum for Peoria High School
Sharon Kherat Manual Manual
Randy Simmons Peoria High School Von Steuben
Karen Orendorff Jamieson Retiring
Paul Monrad Peoria Alternative High School Director of Student Affairs
Brandon Caffey Greeley Assistant Principal at Richwoods High School
Donna O’Day Knoxville Center for Success Sterling
Additional Appointments
Name Current School 2011-2012 Appointment
Laura Rodgers Trewyn, Assistant Principal Principal, Mark Bills
Dave Poehls Richwoods, Assistant Principal Principal, Washington Gifted
Brett Elliott Richwoods, Assistant Principal Principal, Peoria High School
Cindy Clark Peoria High School, Assistant Principal Principal, Richwoods High School
Blogosphere

Blogger Bash tonight

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From Peoria Pundit:

Blogger Bash is on Tuesday, March 29. …Traditionally, fifth Tuesdays are time for Blogger Bash, the informal get-together for Peoria-area bloggers, social media users and anyone who wants to come. Because the past three times have worked so well, we’ll be meeting at 6 p.m. at the Fieldhouse in the Campustown shopping center at the corner of West Main Street and University.

See you there!

City Council, City of Peoria, Peoria Public Schools

Van Auken begs school board for what the Council denies

28 Comments

I about spit out my soda when I read this in an article about District 150’s board meeting Monday night:

Some, including City Councilwoman Barbara Van Auken, asked the board to halt any decisions.

“I’m here to beg you — defer these decision until you have some community outreach,” said Van Auken, who represents District 2, which includes Columbia Middle School, 2612 N. Bootz Ave. “If you have a bad process, you’re going to have a bad outcome.”

Well, I agree with that statement 100%. But I have a few questions: Where was Council Member Van Auken when the City Council rammed through a $39 million hotel deal with only a single business day of public notice and no “community outreach” whatsoever? Where was her concern over “bad process” then? Why didn’t she “beg” the council to defer that decision?

Van Auken’s admonishment kind of reminds me of the Heart of Peoria Plan: something that’s adopted in principle but ignored in practice.

Peoria Public Schools

School board to vote on more school closures, cancelling Edison contract tonight

84 Comments

Lots of controversial items on tonight’s District 150 Board of Education agenda. These recommendations were just revealed a couple of weeks ago by the Superintendent, Dr. Lathan. You can read more about the rationale behind these recommendations by clicking here (PDF).

12. CLOSING OF GARFIELD PRIMARY SCHOOL
Proposed Action: On the recommendation of the Administration the Board of Education closes Garfield Primary School at the end of the 2010 – 2011 school year and authorizes the Administration to set necessary school boundaries.

13. CLOSING OF COLUMBIA MIDDLE SCHOOL
Proposed Action: On the recommendation of the Administration the Board of Education closes Columbia Middle School at the end of the 2010 – 2011 school year and authorizes the Administration to set necessary school boundaries.

14. BOUNDARY CHANGE FOR WHITTIER PRIMARY SCHOOL
Proposed Action: That the Board of Education authorizes the Superintendent to make the necessary boundary changes to Whittier Primary School that were in force prior to the closing of Tyng Primary School.

15. CONFIGURATION FOR GLEN OAK COMMUNITY LEARNING CENTER
Proposed Action: That the Board of Education authorizes the Superintendent to change the configuration of Glen Oak Community Learning Center from K – 8 to K – 6.

16. CONFIGURATION OF TREWYN MIDDLE SCHOOL
Proposed Action: That the Board of Education authorizes the Superintendent to change the configuration of Trewyn Middle School to a K-8 school.

17. IB PROGRAM
Proposed Action: That the Board of Education authorize the Administration to implement The International Baccalaureate Program at the following schools: Charter Oak, Mark Bills, Sterling and Trewyn.

18. ESTABLISH A CAREER AND TECHNICAL CENTER
Proposed Action: That the Board of Education authorizes the Superintendent to establish a Career and Technical Center at the former Woodruff High School. The school will be named the Woodruff Career and Technical Center.

19. RESTRUCTURING OF PEORIA ALTERNATIVE HIGH SCHOOL
Proposed Action: That the Board of Education approves the restructuring of Peoria Alternative High School and relocation of the new program to the Woodruff Career and Technical Center.

20. RESTRUCTURING OF GREELEY ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL
Proposed Action: That the Board of Education approves the restructuring of Greeley Alternative School and relocation of the new program to the Woodruff Career and Technical Center.

21. CONTRACT WITH EDISON LEARNING
Proposed Action: That the Board of Education terminates the contract with Edison Learning.

22. GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
Proposed Action: That the Board of Education increases the graduation requirements from 18 credits (16 academic and 2 physical education) to 22 credits for Peoria and Richwoods High School students and 28 for Manual High School students. The new requirements will apply to the 2014 graduating class.

23. HIGH SCHOOL REGISTRATION HANDBOOK
Proposed Action: That the Board of Education approves the High School Registration Handbook. The handbook reflects a change in how class rank is calculated, when the valedictorian calculation is completed and changes the PE requirement.

24. PARENT UNIVERSITY
Proposed Action: That the Board of Education authorizes the Superintendent to establish a District 150 Parent University.

a. The Parent University would be comprised of three academy sites located in the three high school regions within District 150 boundaries. There would be an academy site located at Glen Oak Primary School, Harrison Primary School and Richwoods High School. The responsibility for the development, implementation and coordination of the Parent University curriculum would be facilitated by the Family Community Coordinator in collaboration with the Title I Department. It is further recommended that the Parent-Teacher Advisory Committee serve in an advisory and advocacy capacity for the Parent University. Its primary role would be to oversee and promote the Parent University’s vision.

I haven’t seen an explanation of what’s going to happen to the vacated buildings as a result of these actions, except for the old social security administration office on Knoxville that District 150 inexplicably acquired and remodeled while trying to save money by closing other buildings several years ago. What will happen to Greeley? Or the old Washington School building on Moss? What impact will these decisions have on neighborhoods and transportation/busing overall? Perhaps these issues will be discussed tonight.

Peoria Journal Star

PJStar.com to start charging for content

2 Comments

On April 4, the Journal Star will start charging to see their news articles online. You’ll get a few articles for free each month, but then the rest will be behind a pay wall. You can read about it here and here.

I think it’s a good idea. I cancelled my 7-day-a-week subscription to the Journal Star precisely because they were putting all the same information online for free. Why should I shell out around $200 a year for material everyone else is getting for free? I mean, if the Journal Star wants to give away their content, then I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, right?

Now that they’re going to start charging, I’ll consider resubscribing. However, I’m probably not going to subscribe to the print edition again. Why? Because it doesn’t include the web content.

Users who currently receive a seven-day subscription to the Journal Star are eligible for full online access for $1.49 a month or $9.95 per year. For those who do not subscribe to the Journal Star, the cost will be $6.95 per month or $69.95 per year.

That’s right: if you pay $200 a year for the print edition, they won’t throw in the web access for free (like, say, the New York Times does, even for its Sunday-only subscribers). You’ll have to pay even more to get the same information on the website. I think the news the Journal Star provides has value and is worth paying for — but not worth paying twice for the same thing (except when they endorsed me, I did buy a couple of print copies — it was worth it then!).

So, once the pay wall goes up, I think I’ll pick up the web-only subscription and leave it at that.

Bradley University

Bradley names new men’s basketball coach

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From my inbox:

Geno Ford, the Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year the last two seasons at Kent State University, will become the 13th head coach in Bradley Basketball history when he is formally introduced to the public during a noon press conference Monday in the Renaissance Coliseum arena.

The press conference will be open to the public and will be streamed live online at BradleyBraves.com. The Main Street Parking Deck will be open to members of the media and all attendees are encouraged to enter the arena through the Nick & Nancy Owens Atrium. The event also will be streamed live at http://www.bradley.edu/inthespotlight/story/?id=130731.

Ford replaces recently-fired men’s basketball coach Jim Les.

2011 Election, City Council, City of Peoria, Peoria Public Schools

The District 150 conundrum

37 Comments

I find it really interesting that, as a City Council candidate, I regularly get asked about what the City can do (or what I can/will do as a City Council person) to help District 150. Oftentimes, the questions go beyond the support areas over which the City has control, and gets into school board policy — concerns over school closures, returning schools to a K-8 configuration, and similar things. In fact, from the questions I get asked at forums and in personal interactions, it looks to me like the state of District 150 is, if not number one, at least the number two priority of Peoria residents.

And yet…

Not a single person circulated petitions for the third ward school board seat. As a result, all the candidates there are write-in candidates. The third ward school board member vacating his seat this year is running for City Council instead. In the second ward, there’s only one challenger to sitting school board president Debbie Wolfmeyer. The last time Martha Ross was up for reelection, she ran unopposed. If I were to judge the public’s concern for District 150 by their efforts to change policy by getting on the board and challenging the status quo, I’d have to say it’s not a very high priority at all.

How are we to explain this strange phenomenon?

Bradley University

Main Street Commons update from Bradley Scout

10 Comments

The Bradley Scout has been keeping an eye on the new Main Street Commons and how quickly the new student housing facility is selling leases:

More than half of the apartments at Main Street Commons have yet to be leased, but both university administration and Main Street Commons are still optimistic.

“I’m really excited about second semester,” said Jennifer Dunbar, the building’s marketing specialist and leasing agent. “We had a slow first semester. It’s hard to lease a building when you can’t give a tour.”

Of the 188 units available only 88 have been leased, which is about double the number of units that were leased in November.

…Even though Bradley is financially involved in the building, Vice President of Student Affairs Alan Galsky said he is hopeful and would be surprised if Main Street Commons isn’t completely filled by the fall.

“I am cautiously optimistic the building will fill up,” he said. “We would like to see the whole building filled with Bradley students. If not, Main Street Commons is prepared to fill it with other students in the area such as medical students and graduate students.”

Main Street Commons is the multi-story apartment building being constructed on the site of the old Walgreens on West Main Street.

City of Peoria, History

Another historic property may see wrecking ball

12 Comments

Included in the Peoria City Council’s evisceration of the city’s historic preservation ordinance was a provision that exempts church-owned property from historic preservation. Specifically, the motion said, in part, “No property or structure that is owned by a religious organization and is used primarily as a place for the conduct of religious ceremonies or to further the religious mission or business of the owner shall be subject to the regulations set forth in Articles I through IV of this Chapter by reason of its location within a Historic District….”

That’s all Westminster Presbyterian Church needed to file suit against the City:

Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1420 W. Moss Ave., wants a judge to declare Westminster House has a religious use and therefore can be demolished under changes made to the ordinance Feb. 8…. For years, Westminster has tried to demolish the Westminster House, located at 1508 W. Moss Ave. and in the heart of Moss-High Historic District. The efforts have led nowhere until perhaps now. In 2008, the church unsuccessfully tried to convince the historic preservation commission to allow it to demolish the building. Then they filed suit in federal court, a legal action that was defeated last fall.

The suit filed Monday states the church began holding men’s fellowship prayer meetings on March 9 and that makes the building, which had been used until 2006 as office space, a religious building.

This illustrates the can of worms opened by the council’s action. Do existing historic landmarks automatically get de-listed if they are owned by religious organizations now they are exempt? What if a religious organization purchases an historic landmark building? Does it then automatically get de-listed?

I wonder if those on the council who voted for this amendment had really thought through all the ramifications before passing it.

2011 Election, City Council, City of Peoria

Last scheduled Council candidates forum tonight

16 Comments

There’s a candidates forum for the Peoria City Council at-large race tonight at 7:00 p.m. at the G.A.R. Hall, 416 Hamilton Blvd., downtown Peoria. The event is sponsored by the Central Illinois Landmarks Foundation (CILF), so there will certainly be questions about the candidates’ views on historic preservation. However, the questions will not be limited to that topic. Any city- or council-related issues are fair game.