At a joint press conference today, the City officially responded to District 150’s counterproposal regarding the site of a new school for the Woodruff attendance area: “We respectfully decline.” Bob Manning explained that there was really very little room for negotiation to begin with.
“From day one, we put together our best-faith effort,” Manning said, referring to the City’s offer of $500,000 in property acquisition costs if the school board would build the replacement school at Frye and Wisconsin, site of the current Glen Oak Primary School. He added the City wouldn’t be making any further counterproposals.
It’s practically certain that the school district will now continue their pursuit of building the school at the corner of Prospect and Frye, adjacent to Glen Oak Park, and resume acquiring that property. But Ken Hinton, District 150 Superintendent, wouldn’t confirm that. He said he didn’t have the authority to make that statement because it’s a school board decision.
Mayor Ardis didn’t want today’s events to be characterized as “talks breaking down,” but rather that “we’ve agreed to disagree” and are moving forward. In fact, the catchphrase for the press conference was that both parties are “moving forward.”
“The important question is, ‘Where are we going?'” Hinton retorted when asked if it was easy for him to speak of moving forward when the district got everything it wanted. He called the school siting debate “a learning experience,” called attention to all the other ways the school board and City are working together, and stressed the school board and City have the same goal — to work together to provide the best education we can for the children of this community.
When asked if the city would cut any funding they currenly provide to District 150, Manning responded that there would be “no retaliatory strikes.” George Jacob congratulated Manning on his leadership on this issue and stressed that the City’s and community’s concern is rebuilding neighborhoods, and they would like to partner with District 150 and other governmental bodies (PHA, neighborhood associations, etc.) in the future in that effort.
My take: It was clear to City officials that the school district has no interest in compromising, so they figured it’s not worth pursuing any further. I hate to say “I told you so,” but I did predict this would be the outcome way back on July 17. It was clear from day one that the school district had no intention of seriously considering the city’s offer. One wonders why it took them two whole months (Manning gave them the City’s offer July 15) to respond.
I appreciated the conciliatory tone of the press conference, but let’s be honest — there is a rift between the city and the school district. Even though there may not be any “retaliatory strikes,” I believe that school projects are not going to be as high a priority now when it comes to budget-cutting time for the city. If the police department needs more officers on the street and there’s no money in the budget to hire more officers, do you think the truancy officers on loan to the school district might get reassigned? You bet.
So, while I’m sure there will be no capricious cutting of the city’s support for District 150, I don’t see the school board getting the level of cooperation and funding that they would have if they’d cooperated with the city on this school siting project.
But hey, the school district apparently doesn’t need money anyway, right? I mean, the whole premise of closing schools was to shutter the buildings and sell them, saving $500,000 per building according to their Master Facilities Plan. Yet when they closed Blaine-Sumner Middle School, they didn’t sell it or save a half-million dollars. They retrofitted it with air conditioning and turned it into an office building for the district’s special education workers. What about the health/safety problems? What about the asbestos? What about the $500,000 they need to save, which is the whole reason they’re closing buildings in the first place?
District 150 continues to lose credibility, and now they’re probably going to lose funding, too. If only their commitment to solvency and cooperation were as strong as their commitment to putting a suburban-style school at Glen Oak Park.
Gotta hand it to Mr. Hinton, he knows how to get what he wants, and he won’t let a simple thing like public outrage or city leaders get in his way! That new PR guy for Dist 150 that Cat is paying for is sure going to have his work cut out for him.
C.J.
I did not realize how uneducated I must be regarding government enities. It has always been my understanding that the elected school board is responsible for all decisions and/or negoatians on behalf of all schools and employees. I understood that the superintendent worked for the school board as does all personnel. Maybe I misunderstood.
I would like to know just who is in charge of District 150?
It has come to my attention that two of the board members did not even know that a response from district 150 to the City of Peoria had been prepared or what it contained. How can this be? There are times that I feel Mr. Cahil is realy in charge and pulling all the strings. Then there are other times that I feel Mr. Hinton is in charge and is hell bent to have his way and only his way as being perfect. Yet again, I wonder if it is someone that none of us that are interested in the new East Bluff School site have even thought about. I was always informed to follow the money and you could understand all the behind the scenes things that are happening. With this bunch, it is very hard to follow the money angle. There have been so many hands in the pot that it is hard to tell who is stiring and who is cooking. Someone is going to come out of this with a bundle of cash and this will come from all of us who are tax paying citizens
I do not understand how a school board or superentendent or a Guy Cahil could go forward with this assinine project. They must know that the families involved are not for it. The City of Peoria has shown that they are not behind it. The students and the parents have shown that they are not behind the plan. The police Department has told them that this is not a safe location for the school. Who is really listening?
If the answer to my question regarding who is in charge is truely the elected school board, I feel that there are a number of us in the East Bluff who will work very hard to replace every member of the board in the next election
Thank you for keeping this as a current subject and allowing us to have a place to vent our frustrations
Ricahrd:
“Board-Superintendent Relationship 2:130 — Final authority for all matters concerning the District lies with the Board of Education.â€
So let’s merge it with the Dunlap District 323… That will solve all it’s problems!!
Pez, I did recommend merging the two districts, and I still believe that would be best for the long term. However, the way I suggested merging them was to disband both boards of education and form a new one for the new district. I think the current D150 board members would be hardpressed to be reelected.
Alternatively, Peoria could take half of its low-income housing and put it in north Peoria within D323 boundaries, just to level the playing field.