There will be a joint meeting of the Peoria City Council and Peoria Board of Education on Feb. 28 at 3:00 p.m. in City Hall, room 404, to discuss “the enhancement of communities surrounding new schools.” The agenda will be:

I. Review of the committee charge.

II. Review of the committee work.

III. Presentation of “School / Neighborhood Impact Zones” concept.

IV. Discussion of School / Neighborhood Impact Zones in the context of the committee charge.

V. Consensus agreement on plan to move forward with School / Neighborhood Impact Zones as presented or as modified.

VI. Adjournment

The facilitator for the subcommittee, Bill Collier, has also provided this additional information that was distributed by the city:

TO: PEORIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS DISTRICT 150 BOARD OF EDUCATION AND ADMINISTRATION, CITY OF PEORIA MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS AND DEPARTMENT HEADS

FROM: BILL COLLIER, SUBCOMITTEE FACILITAOR, EDUCATION LIAISON FOR MAYOR ARDIS

DATE: FEBRUARY 21, 2008

SUBJECT: JOINT CITY COUNCIL / SCHOOL BOARD SUBCOMMITTEE – AGENDA FOR UPCOMING MEETING.

A meeting of the subcommittee on Safe Schools / Safe Neighborhoods, established last fall by District 150 Board of Education President Dr. David Gorenz will be held at 3:00 PM on February 28 in room 404 at City Hall. Some might say that they thought that the subcommittee had died and that nothing had been accomplished. As the facilitator for the committee I apologize for the length of time that has passed; however, I want to assure you that a great deal of work has been done and we are ready to meet once again.

A review of planning activities would include the following activities:

• Based on the December meeting of the Safe Schools / Safe Neighborhood subcommittee a concept put forth by Councilman Jacob, combined with a previously discussed concept by Councilman Manning, the facilitator put together a focused proposal for discussion among those councilmen and Pat Landes of the City staff.
• Councilman Gulley was brought into the discussion and Ms. Landes expanded her conversations to include almost all City departments.
• A presentation was made to Dr. Gorenz, Ms. Ross and Mr. Cahill with the intent to host a subcommittee meeting based on that presentation.
• Councilmen Jacob, Manning and Gulley along with Ms. Landes continued to meet and work on details.
• Tri County Planning Commission Executive Director Terry Kohlbuss then entered the picture and has added much to the discussion along with his staff’s support.
• A “draft” proposal has been developed and is still being worked on, but the time for a subcommittee meeting is right. The “draft” proposal will be the focus of the February 28 meeting.

It is difficult to inform everyone of a proposal, and at the same time not create concern as to why a particular group was informed first. I am sensitive to that concern thus I thought it might be informative if I offered a couple of comments related to the path I anticipate this proposal taking.

First, the “concept” originated in the subcommittee meeting so it was my position that it should return to the subcommittee before going forward to the City Council, School Board, other governmental bodies and the general public through the media.

Since City Council members and City staff have developed the concept into a proposal the next logical step will be for a formal City Council presentation in the near future followed by a similar presentation before the School Board. Once we reach a consensus with those two bodies, we will take the proposal/concept to the Park District, County of Peoria, neighborhood associations, social service agencies—a nearly unlimited list of potential partners.

It is my hope that all subcommittee members will be present and I would welcome all school board members, City council members as well as all relevant administrative and management team members from both bodies. In my opinion this presentation is what I call BIG. I am very impressed with the time, energy and leadership that George, Bob, Clyde, Pat and Terry have given to this project. What has been most impressive, however is their passion to support District 150 and revitalize the neighborhoods. I really believe that if the proposal is accepted and given priority Peoria will be looked at for developing a comprehensive cooperative agreement among a large and diverse number of participants.

Please free up your schedule, attend this important meeting, offer your comments-suggestions-concerns and help formalize this far reaching, long-term neighborhood revitalization/stabilization project.

Thursday February 28 3:00 PM in room 404 at City Hall.

Thank you,
Bill Collier