Here’s a summary of the changes that were proposed at the District 150 Board of Education meeting Monday night, from the Journal Star:
- Closing Columbia Middle School and splitting the students among Calvin Coolidge and Sterling middle schools; or reassigning all of Columbia’s students to Sterling.
- Closing Garfield Primary School and sending about 50 of the nearly 300 students to Harrison Community Learning Center and the remaining 250 to Trewyn, which would change from a middle school to grades K-8.
- Change part of Whittier’s boundaries back, alleviating some population there, increasing Harrison’s enrollment by 94 students, including those from Garfield.
- Closing the Greeley and Peoria Alternative High School buildings and moving the programs to the former Woodruff High School, which also would serve as a career and technical education center. Relocate students from the Knoxville Center for Success to Woodruff and use the Knoxville site as a suspension respite program for high school students.
- Severing ties with Edison but maintaining the program’s longer school day and additional professional development.
- Eliminating Apex Learning, an online curriculum, in favor of expanding Compass Learning, which was just adopted at several schools last year.
- Incorporate a 90-minute literacy block at primary schools using guided reading materials. Also include a daily schedule of a 30- to 45-minute intervention/enrichment period.
- Increase graduation requirements from 18 credits to 22 for Richwoods and Peoria High School; and 28 at Manual, which has a block schedule.
- Eliminate high school study hall in lieu of a “study skills” class that focuses on study and organizational skills and prepares students for life beyond school.
- Alter how class ranking is weighted.
WEEK-TV has some additional information:
- Those from Peoria and Greeley Alternative would head to a new proposed program in the former Woodruff High School building. It would be called the ‘Woodruff Career and Technical Center.’
- District officials proposed restructuring Trewyn Middle School to accommodate it for grads K-8 and making it an International Baccalaureate school. That would result in the ‘release’ of the entire Trewyn Staff.
- They suggested establishing a ‘Parent University’ to offer community resources to district families.
[…]
- Under the proposed changes, those schools would offer advanced Physical Education classes for credit, and revamp the traditional study hall. It would be called a ‘study skills’ class, and students would receive credit for that as well.
- Officials recommended establishing bilinigual classes at Manual High School.
WEEK also states that the changes would “result in layoffs of at least 15 faculty members” and “save the district more than $1.4 million annually.” We all have two weeks to take it all in before the school board votes on the changes at their March 28 meeting.
Do we really believe any cost saving estimates that they claim will happen. They seem to have a problem getting there math straight.
On a side note when I was at Glen oak for the TIF meeting the brand new build already had water damage in the ceiling of the library.So it would seem you can’t even trust these fools to do even simple things correctly like getting a roof that doesn’t leek on a 65 million dollar project.
I agree— no one could ever produce any real numbers from whs closing or the multiple closings before that…the taxpayers should just “trust” this clan? The public knows better.
Off the top of my head, there are some proposals that may be promising:
1. They are addressing the need for a good alternative program
2. Taking pressure off Whittier
3. Maintaining the Edison-like curriculum without paying the out-of-state fees
4. Emphasizing reading and literacy
5. Increasing the standards for High-Schoolers – many whom graduate from High School and still can’t read or write.
6. Establishing a trend towards K-8 and away from middle schools.
A few concerns:
The IB Program should be more centrally located to draw from the North and the South of Peoria.
Any decreases in Faculty should be met with proportional decreases in staff and Administration.
There are probably more but it will be interesting to see how it plays out…
Peoria Parent: The superintendent has had no problem so far jettisoning administrators, even those she brought in with her. And this district is in desperate need of vocational education, and I’m not taking about old-style wood shop and auto shop. There are vo-tech programs that teach robotics and computer science. Not every kid is going to go off to study English literature.
If we are saving 1.4 million what are we benefitting with that savings? They are talking about all the savings but not saying much about the advantages. All this moving around of students and such I think is difficult on the children and their families. Different schedules and different days affect families and their jobs and residences. Its going to be difficult for families to keep up with all the movement. I’m glad my kids are grown and not depending on who’s doing what with their lives in regards to school and scheduling.
They should be teaching these kids job getting skills such as speak english at an interview. My personal favorite is PULL-UP YOUR PANTS!
Woodruff had a good computer program. I’m not sure if they moved it or just shut it down. Auto-shop is a good skill however they should have a version that just teaches basics just so you don’t get ripped off by a shop.
Eye – properly using “their” instead of “there” wouldn’t make it seem like a fool calling a fool a fool. The water damage at Glen Oak was an architectural mistake that will be taken care of at builders expense – as it should be. I believe Dr. Kinney said the spreadsheet on WHS cost savings will be available through a FOIA, but since it had employee names associated with every move and entry, it wasn’t published. Where past number crunchers might not be believable, you and mortified should check your sources before questioning Dr. Kinney’s ability or accuracy. He seems to be producing what many in the public and on the board have been requesting.
Here is the plan, in PDF format:
http://www.psd150.org/peoria/lib/peoria/PSD%20150%202011-12%20Recommendations%20-%20Audit.pdf
My understanding is this: There will be 15 fewer teachers. But with a teacher payroll in excess of 1,000 we should expect there to be more than 15 retirements at the end of this school year.
So no teacher need be fired, unless the skill sets of those retiring are so specific, they cannot be replaced by anyone currently employed, or if too many science or perhaps math teachers resign that there aren’t enough to juggle to a different location.
A lot of the pushback on this sort of thing is the attitude that if you have been working at one site for long enough, it’s somehow morally wrong to relocate a teacher. And some parents share this attitude, because they want THEIR child to be taught by this SPECIFIC teacher.
Dennis: I agree a vocation ed program is long over due. My concern is the idea it will be house with an alternative school at Woodruff. I liked the idea of Vocation Ed being at Central.
Vocational ed should be showcased to students as just as viable an education option as college prep, not a default position that is housed with students that were unable to conform in one way or the other.
Frustrated, I agree; I can’t imagine why such a viable option to only academics would be offered only to students who can’t conform to the rules at a regular school. Many well-behaved students would love to benefit from hands-on learning.
Just scanned through the proposal, and I have to say it is a lot to take in. I can agree with eliminating the Edison schools. I had the experience of one daughter who attended Loucks Edison, and pulled her out of the school after two weeks. The study sounds good on it’s surface, but I am wondering what the educators think.
The lack of vocational ed is a huge mistake. Hopefully, it comes back.
While a agree that District 150 should have vocational classes for all high school students, before those classes are put at Woodruff someone should see what is already happening at Manual. They have great programs there – engineering, child development, construction, and the CISCO program that was previously at Woodruff just to name a few. Instead of having these “new” programs at several locations, how about invest time and resources at one location – Manual where they are already started. These programs are not just for students who will choose work instead of college – these programs are for all students, college bound or not. Let’s see the district promote the programs at Manual before they add them to Woodruff.
Mr. Stowell- If you are out there somewhere…can you tell everyone how much you make a year? I will guess that you make far more than any educator that I know.
Mr. Stowell- If you are out there somewhere..can you tell the public how much you make per year? I’m guessing it is far greater than any educator that I know.
Anyone want to buy a home? Mine is for sale…
Close schools here, reopen schools over there…
Where is the pea?
These bureaucrats are playing the shell game with us…
Someone should see what is happening at Manual. C grades given out for D and F work just to show the kids are learning. That’s where the pea is. The magic pea.
Yes, and some of Jim’s money comes from teachers who have probably given his income a boost, but he doesn’t seem to think that teachers deserve the same.
Emtronics, you are so right. I know of two cases of students who entered Manual this year with a 2 to 2.2 grade average and are straight A students. You wouldn’t think parents would believe in miracles, but I think, more often than not, they assume the other school had given their children unfair grades.
Hey Em: They give the students passing grades so IHSA will allow them to play sports. They do not deserve the grades, but I guess the administration at manual wants them to play basketball to put them in the paper…..
Iteach2–I slightly disagree. The modus operandi of Manual administrators has always been to give athletes high grades–I very much felt that pressure when I was a senior English teacher at Manual. However, the new MHS philosophy is that all students deserve the “feel good” break. Actually, the underlying reason for the high grades lies with Johns Hopkins. The program has to be sold to parents, first and foremost. Parents have been made to believe (and, unfortunately, I have heard comments from board members that make me think they believe it, too) that the Johns Hopkins program is performing miracles–miracles that, as yet, have not changed the performance on NCLB AYP. Manual’s AYP went up last year because of a lie. For the first time, the 7th & 8th grade scores were averaged in with the high school scores. The high school scores will still as low as evr.
My letter to the BOE re: the proposed changes at Peoria High School:
District 150 Board of Education:
I
I was greatly disturbed by the fact that Dr. Lathan walked in fifteen minutes late to the meeting she scheduled for Wednesday, March 16, 2011, at 7:15a.m., at Peoria High School — a meeting at which she was to lay out for several of us teachers the fate of our school. We teachers had been pulled from professional development to attend the meeting. When Dr. Lathan finally walked in, she said, “Sorry. It has been a rough week.”
Tardiness is a foreign concept to the District 150 employees at Peoria High School. We are expected to be at work every day and on time. My question is whether or not the district has punctuality expectations for the superintendent and if so, what are they?
II
Yesterday, there were several fights at Peoria High School. What I’ve noticed is that students who fight are suspended briefly only to come back to school to fight again. When I questioned the superintendent about this the other morning, she responded by implying that 1.) often, students can’t be expelled for fighting because the paperwork is done incorrectly and 2.) that she doesn’t tell principals not to suspend students. In fact, she stated that she has told the principals that she will go around them to talk to their faculties herself to set this record straight. On the other hand (and in the very same meeting), the superintendent said that Peoria High School has the highest suspension rate and that something is wrong with that.
I was confused, to say the least, by her response. I have a couple of questions.
1.) In my sixteen year career, I’ve never heard of paperwork mistakes becoming such an issue that students can’t be expelled for exhibiting extremely violent behavior. However, I’ll assume this is true and ask — how many students who have fought in our public schools have been returned to school due to paperwork mistakes?
2.) At Whittier (where three of my children attend), I heard that a student who had been extremely disruptive for a very long time ended up kicking his teacher in the face twice. At Calvin Coolidge (where my children are supposed to go to school after Whittier), the principal was punched in the face; later, a teacher who was breaking up a fight was punched in the face. Another teacher at Coolidge was injured while breaking up a fight between two girls. (Both girls were back in school the next day.) There was a fight at Coolidge yesterday morning. My daughter who attends Richwoods was anxious two days ago to tell me, “Guess what, Dad! We had NO fights today! Can you believe that?” Under this new administration, fighting has become the norm.
What I have noticed is that because of a lack of serious consequences for fighting, fighting has become so frequent in our schools that the schools actually foster the behavior. Instead of our schools being a safe haven from the streets and a beacon of hope for the future, they’re rapidly becoming worse than the streets. My daughter has probably seen more fights this year at Richwoods High School than she will see anywhere else over the span of her entire life.
The superintendent seemed to be keen on ensuring that she not be held accountable for any of the issues we brought up — deflecting blame (each time) onto others and talking around the questions we asked.
I know that the principal at Peoria High School and probably the principal at Coolidge too don’t want to tolerate fighting in their schools; however, the message (whether stated explicitly or not) from central administration seems to be “don’t suspend or expel students.” You can’t on the one hand tell your principals, “Your suspension rate is too high” and on the other hand tell teachers, “I don’t tell principals not to suspend people” — not if you want your message (one way or the other) to be clear.
What exactly is the district’s policy on fighting? How many times must a student fight before that student is removed from school?
3.) A couple of teachers asked the superintendent about our district’s weapons policy. The superintendent responded that weapons incidents will be handled on a case-by-case basis. She then said, “It depends on how big the knife is . . . is it big, small, what was the student’s intention when he brought the weapon to school . . . etc.” Two former Woodruff teachers who had been in the building when the student fired off the handgun a few years ago were a taken aback by this response. So was I.
The superintendent went on to imply that the most recent handgun incident was handled the way it was because someone (at some level) mishandled the evidence (the gun). Again, in my sixteen years of teaching, I’ve never heard of a student who brings a handgun to school being let off the hook because evidence was mishandled.
Was the current gun incident a flop because the “evidence” was “handled improperly”?
Have there been any other incidents in the district in which students have taken deadly weapons to school only to be let off the hook because evidence was mishandled?
Exactly how many students who have brought deadly weapons into our schools this year are still attending?
(Additional Question: The superintendent criticized our principals implying that they are putting students up for expulsion for simply cursing (using profanity). In my sixteen years of teaching, I’ve never heard of a principal recommending expulsion for a student who says a cuss word. Is this true? If so, how many “profanity expulsions” has the current superintendent had to deny?)
III
It seems that no one except for the superintendent knows what’s going to happen at Peoria High School next year. She made it clear that she intends to replace our current principal and also made it clear that she will not share with us who the next principal will be. The district’s mission to remain “transparent” seems a to be a bit cobwebby here.
When I asked the superintendent, “What will happen to Randy?” she responded that he’ll be stripped of his administrative status just like all of the other principals in the district. I assume she intends to reassign him.
After we raised questions about Randy’s fate, the superintendent told us that she went all the way to Washington, D.C., herself to ask if she could make an exception to the Sig Grant requirement that the principal be replaced so that Randy could stay at Peoria High School. She said that the person she asked was offended that she’d go all the way to Washington to ask that question.
1.) Is this true? If so, was Randy Simmons given this information?
2.) Specifically, who did the superintendent ask?
3.) Why wasn’t a phone call made instead of a trip all the way to Washington?
IV
When I asked the superintendent why she felt we needed to apply for the Sig Grant, she said, “Why? Thirty-four percent proficiency, that’s why.” When I asked her if that were the only criteria, she said, “Peoria High School has the highest suspension rate.”
My question is this: “Is the current administration being replaced (via the Sig Grant) because of the current proficiency rate (which is increasing) and because of the school’s number of suspensions?”
When I asked what benefits we might reap from the grant, I was told, “Reading specialist (which we already have); math specialist (which we already have); professional development (which we already have (which is quality at the school level but a disaster at the district level — the district-level administrator at one session was fifteen minutes late and obviously unprepared); and a possible variation in the school day. And, of course, we’d have to use a major portion of the grant to pay an outside entity to come in.
I asked the superintendent to give her impression of how well this grant has worked at Manual High School. She went on for a while about how data has to be analyzed and then changes made, etc., etc; however, she didn’t mention a single significant gain the school has made, nor did she mention anything about how the grant has directly benefitted students.
Certainly, you will sacrifice the level of stability our staff has worked hard to garner at Peoria High School and will take us back to Ground Zero if you allow the superintendent to replace our current administration with an inexperienced one. The academic and social gains we have made will be for naught. The merger (of WHS and PHS) is still very much a work in progress and if you don’t maintain the current administration, you are inviting disaster.
Our students have been through much — especially students who came to Peoria High School from Woodruff High School. No amount of money, extra time, or technology is going to make up for what you’ll lose in relationships and stability if you allow the current superintendent to make this move.
1.) Do you intend to allow the current superintendent to make administrative changes at Peoria High School? If so, how much time will you take to consider the changes?
2.) Does the superintendent intend to stay in Peoria for more than the length of her current contract — will she stay to see the changes through to fruition or to be held accountable if her decisions flop?
3.) Do you have any intention of looking into why the superintendent’s hand-picked second-in-command was fired before the completion of even one school year?
4.) Do you think it’s wise to allow a superintendent who has already fired two administrators she hand-picked to make sweeping administrative changes having spent only a token amount of time with our district?
5.) What does the chief of police think about removing the current administration?
6.) What do parents of Peoria High School students think about removing the current administration?
7.) What do the Peoria High School teachers think about removing the current administration?
8.) What do the people in the surrounding neighborhood think about replacing the administration at Peoria High School?
9.) What does the Mayor Ardis think about removing the current administration?
10.) What does Mayor Dillon (of West Peoria) think about removing the current administration?
V
From what I can gather, the superintendent operates in an autocratic manner. Instead of getting away from the antiquated bureaucratic method of running a district and leaning towards a more “shared leadership” approach, she seems to be creating the mother of all bureaucracies.
1.) Given current circumstances, very few building administrators are going to speak up about what goes on in the administrative world of our new superintendent — unless you go to them individually and speak with them “off the record.” Have you spoken with any building administrators “off the record” to get their take on the current administration and the way it operates? If not, do you intend to do so?
2.) Do you intend to get the opinion of building administrators regarding the current superintendent before you allow her to make sweeping changes?
I must tell you that I thoroughly enjoy teaching at Peoria High School. Randy and Cindy have worked incredibly hard over the past several years to get Peoria High to where it is today. I wouldn’t trade my job at Peoria High for a teaching position in any other building.
In our school, students from Peoria High and Woodruff have come together to form a new, closely-knit family. I must say that the sense of family the Woodruff students brought them has certainly rubbed off on us.
In my classroom, students interact well together, they learn well together, and we have fun, laugh, and are highly spirited every day. There’s a level of innocence amongst the students that I haven’t seen for years. It’s refreshing.
It’s true that we do have our problems. In my opinion, the central office’s extreme lack of consequences for students who fight in our schools had led to a rash of fighting district-wide. Although the vast majority of our students (PHS and WHS alike) are adjusting well, there’s still much work to be done.
What’s unfortunate is that it seems the district is willing to allow the superintendent to dismantle the stability we’re fostering at Peoria High School by removing our current administration in order to get a grant. Be forewarned: The money you gain from being awarded the grant will not outweigh the damage that will be done if you pull the stability out from underneath our students. There will be a mushroom cloud . . . and by the time the dust settles and we are at Ground Zero, the superintendent will be working in another city and we’ll be left behind to try to clean up the mess. Currently, Peoria High School is the anchor school in our district. Once you cut the anchor rope, there will be no turning back.
I love my students. I’d like to think that I, and not a hireling who will be here and gone in what, relatively speaking, will be the blink of an eye, know what’s best for the students I see daily. Removing the current administration is not what is best.
I was not at all impressed by the meeting we had with the superintendent and, quite frankly, I must admit that I don’t believe she tells the truth and I don’t trust her with the future of my students.
I’ve learned over the years that administrators who say things like “Change is hard for everyone” and “It’s for the children” and who make reference to everyone but themselves getting out of their “comfort zone” while — at the same time — never, ever giving any specifics with regards to past or future plans are not to be trusted.
It’s my sincere hope — for the sake of the future of my students — that you will take the time to contemplate and answer (if not for me, then for yourselves) the questions I have asked.
Respectfully,
Jeff Adkins-Dutro
rock on A-D
On Monday, March 21st, Peoria teachers, Martha Kelly and Charlie Thomas will be holding a candidates forum (for President and Vice=President of the Peoria’s Teacher’s Union) at Woodruff in the Commons Area from 4 till 5:30. This is an excellent opportunity to meet these candidates and find out what platform they are running on. I personally have had the experience of working with both of them and believe they are “head and shoulders” above any other candidates, mainly because of their enthusiasm to make positive change, standing up for their fellow teachers, and experience working with children on a day to day basis. Please set aside the time to come. See you there!
well said Jeff (from a fellow PHS teacher)
He hits it on the head doesn’t he? I wasn’t in 150 very long, but managed to teach under 2 principals. One was a genuinely loved and respected leader, the other was an outsider who had no interest in the welfare of his students or his team of teachers. Being in one place does not make you stale, it gives you roots and relationships with students, their siblings, their parents, and your fellow teachers. How is that possibly a negative? I know that my colleagues who teach for Randy now, after choosing to leave Richwoods under the former regime, would hate to see him be moved for the same reasons A-D brought up. If someone excels at their position, let them perform at the level they are capable instead of tying their hands and expecting excellence.
District 150 doesn’t seem to realize the truth of the adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Rather District 150 seems to make the decisions that make everything worse. There is absolutely no logical or acceptable reason for moving Randy at this crucial time in PHS’s history. We now have a superintendent with absolutely no lasting or even short-term ties to the students of District 150. All that matters to her are short-term gains. Someone or many someones with the long term in mind have to intervene to see that this does not happen.
I am really tired of hearing, as I have from a couple of board members, that Randy is on board with this decision. Randy has no choice but to be on board with this decision–nobody, absolutely nobody, offered him a choice. He isn’t arrogant enough to make any statements about how much PHS needs him–others simply must do it for him.
I hope that this wrong-headed theory (with roots in the federal government)that assumes that change for the sake of change is a good idea will end soon. How stupid it is to assume that changing a principal will bring about miracles in NCLB test scores–and that is the premise that drives this stupidity. Not that I think it matters or should matter, but PHS scores did go up last year–and not in the deceptive way that Manual’s did (by giving the high school scores a boost by averaging in the 8th grade academy scores)
And, no one has convinced me yet that there isn’t another stinger to follow this one–I believe the federal dollars may very well demand that the marjority of the faculty be changed as well–just as happened at Manual three years ago–and anybody who thinks that is a success is having pipe dreams.
Why don’t you teachers at 150 just stop working? A work stoppage would force the administration into making changes…
You aren’t teaching these kids anyway… you are barely maintaining order in the schools… the chaos is deafening.
kcdad, you and I will never agree on this subject. In spite of all the chaos at the top, teachers do teach every day. Yes, there are those young people about whom you speak who do not fit in the conventional school environment–yes, much more attention does need to be given to providing a better fit for them. However, I don’t agree that their problems are created at the school–they come to school with problems that are beyond the control of teachers.
However, the vast majority of District 150 students are being provided educational opportunities by superior, dedicated teachers.
It is my belief that teachers can not teach children that have no guidance from home. Too many parents do not do their job and expect the school system to do all the work of raising their children. Until parents start doing their jobs, teachers will always have problems teaching children.
kcdad, you are not far off. We changed schools for my son because of the CHAOS in his classroom and he has learned far more this year than every before.
Jenny, whom do you believe was responsible for the chaos at your son’s previous school? If you read Jeff’s letter carefully, you will note that schools are criticized for having a high suspension rate. That never, never makes sense to me. The behavior of the students determines how many suspensions a school has. If there is some sort of quota expected so that the school doesn’t exceed the number of suspensions considered acceptable, that means that principals are expected to overlook many suspenable behaviors–thus chaos.
What is the city of Peoria were told that there were too many people being arrested for murder? The arrests are determined by the number of murders–the consequences can’t be eliminated if the behaviors aren’t eliminated.
Sharon-
I agree with you for the most part about suspensions. You do go too far though when you compare students behavior to murder.
I agree that the two kinds of offenses aren’t comparable. I guess I could have used some other crime as an example. However, my point is that the behaviors determine the consequences. A quota system or someone’s idea of how many suspensions are acceptable should not determine how many students receive consequences for their behaviors. I agree that the number of students deserving of consequences is much too high–but that, in large part, is out of the control of teachers and principals.
Sorry for the length–but I could not resist–this is all too true of what is expected of teachers:
Have you heard about the next planned “Survivor” show?
Three businessmen and three businesswomen will be dropped in an elementary school classroom for 1 school year. Each business person will be provided with a copy of his/her school district’s curriculum, and a class of 20-25 students.
Each class will have a minimum of five learning-disabled children, three with A.D.H.D., one gifted child, and two who speak limited English. Three students will be labeled with severe behavior problems.
Each business person must complete lesson plans at least 3 days in advance, with annotations for curriculum objectives and modify, organize, or create their materials accordingly. They will be required to teach students, handle misconduct, implement technology, document attendance, write referrals, correct homework, make bulletin boards, compute grades, complete report cards, document benchmarks, communicate with parents, and arrange parent conferences. They must also stand in their doorway between class changes to monitor the hallways.
In addition, they will complete fire drills, tornado drills, and [Code Red] drills for shooting attacks each month.
They must attend workshops, faculty meetings, and attend curriculum development meetings. They must also tutor students who are behind and strive to get their 2 non-English speaking children proficient enough to take the SOLS tests. If they are sick or having a bad day they must not let it show.
Each day they must incorporate reading, writing, math, science, and social studies into the program. They must maintain discipline and provide an educationally stimulating environment to motivate students at all times. If all students do not wish to cooperate, work, or learn, the teacher will be held responsible.
The business people will only have access to the public golf course on the weekends, but with their new salary, they will not be able to afford it. There will be no access to vendors who want to take them out to lunch, and lunch will be limited to thirty minutes, which is not counted as part of their work day. The business people will be permitted to use a student restroom, as long as another survival candidate can supervise their class.
If the copier is operable, they may make copies of necessary materials before, or after, school. However, they cannot surpass their monthly limit of copies. The business people must continually advance their education, at their expense, and on their own time.
The winner of this Season of Survivor will be allowed to return to their job.
Pass this to your friends who think teaching is easy, and to the ones that know it is hard.
So with the grant at PHS – NONE of the money can go towards funding existing programs. Hence, all new programs and positions will have to be created in order spend the money. Then, after three years, all of the grant money goes away. The district, then, is left either with one heck of an expense or left having to cut all of the programs and positions that were grant-funded. I don’t know.
Adkins-Dutro, can you fill everyone in as to the extent that this is a done deal? Are the federal dollars waiting for acceptance by the board or are there still hoops that the District must jump through to get the money? I assume the board has to vote on whether or not to accept the grant. Also, I understand that Dr. Lathan cancelled a meeting that was to take place recently with people who are concerned about the Peoria High situation. Was the meeting cancelled or postponed? Will the meeting take place before or after this is a done deal?
Meeting postponed. Seems the district is 100% on reassigning Randy whether we get the grant or not. Tragic, considering the magnificent job Cindy and he have done. The union has to sign on for the grant to be a go. They have us in a position now where our leadership is gone either way and we’ll look silly if we don’t get on board with the grant.
I wish the new administrators were as straightforward as Mr. Durflinger. Even if you didn’t agree with him, there was never any question about what he was thinking or about in which direction he thought we ought to head. He led by gaining trust and by building morale – not by saying, BACK ME OR ELSE. 🙂
The story that just went up on the PJS website gives every indication that this is a done deal. To my knowledge, this issue has not yet been discussed at a District 150 board meeting. Is there any doubt in anyone’s mind that District 150 business is carried on at some other time than on Monday board meeting nights–and that only the “yes” and “no” votes occur at board meetings. The unofficial discussion and informal vote seem to be taken under, not around, the table.
Sharon, if this was high school, the “Survivor” candidates would also have to supervise students in the morning, create emergency Substitute plans, and take on advisor role in after-school student clubs or activity for no extra pay (per my daughter who is a 2nd-year Springfield High School Spanish teacher)
On the District 150 website there is a link to this 68 page document that will be presented at the BOE meeting next Monday night. WOW! Quite a good read.
Board of Education Presented with Budget Update and Recommendations for 2011-2012
Link?
Found it… This is the most comprehensive report Dist 150 has shared publicly in quite a long time!
http://www.psd150.org/peoria/lib/peoria/PSD%20150%202011-12%20Recommendations%20-%20Audit.pdf
This is the same report that was presented to the BOE at the last meeting:
http://emergepeoria.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-does-district-150-curriculum-audit.html
Yes, and evidently there were plenty of copies available–at least, someone picked up one for me.
DistrictWatch will meet at 6 p.m. at Monical’s on Knoxville and Lake on Sunday, March 27–there is certainly much to discuss and anyone interested in District 150 is cordially invited. This is not an organized organization–just a varying group of people who get together, some attending more often than others. Some are regulars and some come whenever a particular 150 issue is of interest to them.
Rumor has it that Lathan has called in the pitbulls from Chicago to negotiate the police contract….and has filed suit on the police union to strip their powers…where did she get that kind of money from?
Is the board aware of this? I know these officers have to put up with thugs and errant staff but to have an administrator actually sue them to strip their police powers??…I don’t want some plain clothed rental security in my building…they would be eaten alive and you’d never see PPD because they won’t do the job that the current officers do such as cell phones, breaking up fights, taking them to the dean’s office,etc.
Removing administrator’s from their buildings is asinine alone, much less removing protection…just ask the teachers from Woodruff next time a gun is brought into a school by a student.
I’m beginning to think that we ain’t see nothing yet.
HMMMM, as I look through the mission statement of D150, our mission is to educate children. Lathan needs to leave police, cooks, busing, cleaning to the people that know how to do that.
Actually teach – all those issues are her responsibility. Gaining control over those costs would be a direct benefit to offering more opportunities to the students. Unions are about jobs, and that is only part of the reason they have lost their way.