Peoria Public Schools

District numbers don’t add up

5 Comments

Each District 150 public forum begins the same way — with a PowerPoint presentation from the administration. One of the slides that is flashed up is titled “Enrollment to House,” and it shows these numbers:

Item By the Numbers
Kingman, Irving & Glen Oak 2008 Enrollment 1164
Capacity Remaining at Other WHS Attendance
Area Schools		 670
Planned Building Enrollment 650
“Choice” Enrollment Unlimited

One person at the Irving School meeting asked how you could replace three schools — total enrollment of 1164 — with one school that would only be able to house 650. She understood the school district’s vision of having magnet, or “choice,” schools. But she wondered why anyone wouldn’t want to send their kids to a brand new school closest to their neighborhood. Answer from School Board President David Gorenz: he couldn’t answer at this time because the board is still studying how it will all work.

In other words, the school board has leapt before looking again.

The whole thing doesn’t make any sense. They’re building a brand new, state-of-the-art school that can only hold half the population of the three it’s replacing and calling it progress. They say that the children on the East Bluff and North Valley deserve a new school, yet they’re simultaneously banking on half of those children opting out of it — i.e., “choosing” to go to another district school. If not enough kids opt out, I assume the district would have to make them go somewhere else, perhaps taking enrollment on a first-come, first-served basis.

The end result is that not only will kids be losing their neighborhood schools, they may be losing their new replacement school, too. Five to six hundred children will be bused to other “old” school buildings around in the city. This is a lose-lose for everyone except the small set of students who will (a) get the new school building in their neighborhood, and (b) be lucky enough to attend it.

And there’s another problem: can Health/Life Safety bonds for Irving, Kingman, and Glen Oak (1) be combined to build only one replacement school, and (2) can that replacement school be smaller than than the three schools it’s replacing? It would be worth a call to the Illinois State Board of Education to find out. Of course, if it turns out they can’t be used for that, I suppose the district would just get its funding elsewhere, like the Public Building Commission.

5 thoughts on “District numbers don’t add up”

  1. C.J.

    This really should come as no surprise. King Hinton and Court Jester Cahill play fast and loose with the numbers to suit their whims. It’s just that they got caught and I imagine Gorenz is rather embarrassed some taxpayer brought that to the public’s attention! Bet that snafu in the presentation was buried the next morning! Speaking of Hinton – I wonder when he’s going to return to work. Gosh, he hasn’t been there since July and at nearly $300,000 in salary and benefits you’d think he would be smart enough to learn to use a telephone from his Mapleton residence. I hear he’s Mr. Unreachable! ^oo^~

  2. Yes, this makes no sense. How can the school district tout the new school as being wonderful and then expect so many families not to choose it?

    One question, though, is it possible that once the new school is built, that some of the families will live closer to other D150 schools than they would to the new school? If so, some families might prefer an existing school.

  3. Is the closed White school in those numbers? They are going to replace 4 schools if they close Irving Glen Oak And Kingman.Have they forgot about White? Some students were transferd to Lincon when white closed Will they go to the new B-8 school also?

    Another forum this Thursday. Wait and see what Dog and Pony show they put on.

  4. The concept of making most of the District’s schools “choice” facilities is interesting, especially when the BOE and administration has based their projections on the “choice” premise which they haven’t defined or developed.

    Reality check – how many of the Kellar/Lindbergh/RHS, Northmoor/Rolling Acres/RHS parents do you really believe will send their children to a choice school located on the near north or south sides?

    If they close MHS and PHS, as rumors allege, what about the gang issues that will develop when these students are moved to WHS and RHS? WHS is almost out of control now with gang problems. Do we really want to create environments that are more violent and disruptive than the district has now?

    The idea of a city takeover and appointment of a manager, in the style of Paul Vallas, and oversight board, is more appealing with each passing day.

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