Up until last night, the proposed Math, Science and Technology Academy (MSTA) charter school was to be housed at the former Washington School on Moss Avenue (currently being used for Adult Education). But it sounds like that building is no off the table, according to today’s paper:
District 150 Superintendent Ken Hinton said the site of the former Washington School on the city’s West Bluff is not large enough to house a proposed math, science and technology academy. Instead, Hinton suggested Tuesday that such a school open at Loucks…
It’s always been established that the current building is “too small.” The original plan was to expand it. In June 2008, Hinton had this to say:
Physically, he [Hinton] envisions keeping the front facade in place, but everything else would be renovated and “look nothing like it does now.” In order to enlarge the school, he sees it expanding northward (the front of the school faces south, more or less), possibly extending to the corner of Garfield and St. James.
So, what happened to plans to enlarge the school? What’s the real reason this site was abandoned?
I don’t think you will ever get the real reason behind any decision made at Wisconsin Avenue. I also think I’m sick of misleading headlines at PJStar. At the end of each day, it’s the children who are suffering in 150 and Hinton & crew don’t seem to be worried about them at all. (WOW! We get 1/2 hour to edit now?)
Unfortunately, “At the end of each day” it is all of us who are suffering, all of society that pays for their unwillingness or inability to formulate an effective education policy.
They are happy to just motor along until retirement time, offering one “new idea” after another that fail (because of someone else’s fault) creating the illusion that they are all about education, all about our children and all about OUR future. Of course, all along, they were all about THEIR’s and that of their children … who, of course, go to school in other districts.
AFAIK that pretty much is the real reason; the charter people didn’t want to deal with building expansion and asked if they could look at Loucks. It’s win-winish since people feel strongly about keeping adult ed on Moss and it lets the district fill an empty building, with a lot less shuffling about. If the district gets those benefits and it better suits the needs of the charter people, awesome.
If people have deep, dark, secret motivations that I’m unaware of, well, I’m still okay with it, since it keeps adult ed on Moss, fills an empty building, and involves a lot less shuffling about. 🙂
I am surprised to hear that the charter school organization would want a school on such a busy street. Moreover I wonder why parents would want their children to go to a school on such a busy street.
I’m happy to hear that it’s a permanent move to the Loucks building. It wasn’t clear from what I heard last night whether his would just be for the first year of the charter school – the charter proposal said they would be located elsewhere in a building provided by 150 until the building on Moss was ready to occupy.
Some people may feel strongly about keeping Adult Ed on Moss but it sounded like the West Bluff neighborhood folks really wanted the charter school in their neighborhood.
Hinton told the West Bluff Council last year that the school would be housed on Moss, in order to create synergy with Bradley University, as well as having close proximity to Main Street, etc. This idea was solidly supported and encouraged by the WBC. This “flip-flop” is a major disappointment in the growing list of bad ideas that have become the Charter School vision.
Busy Street? That’s a disqualifier for a school location now? TJ kids are at Loucks now and you never see a kid anywhere near the busy street – they aren’t out playing in front of the school – everyone is bussed into the rear of the school. The front yard is often a litter pit but the kids aren’t exposed to that either. When Loucks was there – at least during Edison years – teachers were out as crossing guards in the morning and afternoon. Charter kids will be older – and the charter school is supposed to purchase busses – surely they can handle a busy street.
Oh, we’ll eventually find out. Some developer will get Washington School (er, I mean, the City will give them money to take it) or some other some other nefarious plot will play out. Of course, D150 has no knowledge of any such thing.
Laura,
Thanks for being a refreshing change to what we are used to with the BOE. I appreciate your responses here and on your blog. It’s good to know someone is out there listening, caring, and responding.
kohlrabi: I often drive past Loucks at dismissal time. There are often kids hanging around on the corner and crossing the street.
Busy streets can be made more pedestrian friendly, if there is the political will to do so.
Eyebrows:
You say what was reported in the paper was “pretty much…the real reason,” then go on to give additional information not provided in the paper as the reason. Sounds like the new info is the “real reason.”
As I pointed out, Hinton accepted the Moss Ave. site over a year ago knowing full well it would need to be expanded. Now the paper says he’s rejecting it because it’s too small. Furthermore, the paper makes it sound like it was Hinton’s idea to switch to the Loucks site. Your info, on the other hand, says that it was the “charter people” who “didn’t want to deal with building expansion and asked if they could look at Loucks.” That’s a different story than the one in the paper. Thanks for the additional info.
Jim Stowell contacted me via e-mail to give me his impression of why the venue changed (reprinted here with his permission):
I’m not bothered that the venue changed, as I’m not terribly excited about a charter school being run by the local Chamber of Commerce — particularly a math academy. But I would like to see the old Washington School building be turned back into a neighborhood school for the West Bluff someday. And I do wish that the “real reasons” for decisions — even innocuous ones like this — would just be plainly expressed to the public instead of obscured by the superintendent’s circumlocution.
Gone largely unnoticed; St Marks School has begun participating in the Illinois Math & Science Academy Excellence 2000+ program. St. Marks is also getting some support from Bradley in implementing this.
Details of the program can be found here:
https://www3.imsa.edu/programs/e2k
The only other schools/districts in the area that I know of, participating, are Limestone and Eureka.
WCBU presented the change for the charter school as Hinton wanting the money that would have been used to retrofit Washington for the Charter to his new/old plan of adding on to Lincoln.
Sharon – I haven’t seen any little TJ students hanging around the corner – I walk by the school every day and all I see is cars and busses tearing out of McClure at dismissal time. I assumed that all the TJ students are bussed or driven by parents. maybe TJ students that were bussed to Florence Ave. can walk to Loucks – I haven’t seen them. There are always elementary age kids waiting on the busy street (University) for school busses – maybe for an Edison school or Roosevelt – I haven’t seen any walking to school.
I thought that the money for the Charter School and the other projects was from the PBC? Is that correct? If yes, does D150 just keep going back to the PBC and obtaining approval for all these changes?
Or is the money coming from various money pot sources?
The plan with the charter school is for the district to provide it a school. If the district uses monies to build/renovate, it will get that from the PBC. In the latest plan, the charter school would get 90% of the current average student expenditure from the district for each enrolled student. The charter would use D150 for certain types of students with special needs – that one’s still a little fuzzy to me.
Kohlrabi: You’re probably right–students at TJ and the charter school would most likely be on buses or picked up by parents. As a neighborhood school, there would be a bigger problem with kids walking to and from school. I do find Jim’s input interesting since the “Bradley” angle was the one that was used to make the charter school attractive in that the Moss Ave. site would be walking distance for Bradley professors who might want to have a parttime job. Also, isn’t it true that the $2 million incentive for 150 to accept a charter school is no longer being offered by the state? I’m still trying to figure out why 150 is so willing to lose state per pupil money and probably some of its best students to a charter school.
“I’m still trying to figure out why 150 is so willing to lose state per pupil money and probably some of its best students to a charter school.”
At the end of the day, it’s the same pot of money. If 400 kids go over to a charter school, that means less teachers, facilities, etc. needed by the “non-charter” portion of the district.
D150 can “lose” those students to a charter school within the city of Peoria, or it can continue to lose them to Dunlap, Morton and private schools. Oh, and the school board still has final say on the operations of the charter.
Jon: District 150 does have the “final” say–but would have to jump through many hoops to cancel the charter once it is granted. Once everything is in place and the school opens, District 150 has little to say about what goes on there. You are assuming that the students who will go to the charter school will be ones who would otherwise leave the district–if the school cherrypicks that will be the case. The charter school document claims they will not choose students on the basis of academic preparedness–of course, that document promises a good many things that will never happen. The district will be losing the same amount of money they would lose if 400 kids left the district–so what’s the difference? As I’ve said before, if the school is a success, District 150 will not get the credit. If the school fails, District 150 will be blamed.
Sharon, I’ve noticed several times that you think it possible that the school will cherry pick the students. That is against statute. Here are some of the pertinent portions of the statute:
“d) Enrollment in a charter school shall be open to any pupil who resides within the geographic boundaries of the area served by the local school board, provided that the board of education in a city having a population exceeding 500,000 may designate attendance boundaries for no more than one?third of the charter schools permitted in the city if the board of education determines that attendance boundaries are needed to relieve overcrowding or to better serve low?income and at?risk students. Students residing within an attendance boundary may be given priority for enrollment, but must not be required to attend the charter school.
h) If there are more eligible applicants for enrollment in a charter school than there are spaces available, successful applicants shall be selected by lottery. However, priority shall be given to siblings of pupils enrolled in the charter school and to pupils who were enrolled in the charter school the previous school year, unless expelled for cause, and priority may be given to pupils residing within the charter school’s attendance boundary, if a boundary has been designated by the board of education in a city having a population exceeding 500,000. Dual enrollment at both a charter school and a public school or non?public school shall not be allowed. A pupil who is suspended or expelled from a charter school shall be deemed to be suspended or expelled from the public schools of the school district in which the pupil resides. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this subsection (h), any charter school with a mission exclusive to educating high school dropouts may restrict admission to students who are high school dropouts.”
That contrasts with the regulations of a Gifted Program that does cherry pick the best students, the pertinent portion of the statute stating:
“Sec. 14A?30. Local programs; requirements. In order for a local program for the education of gifted and talented children to be approved by the State Board of Education in order to qualify for State funding, if available, as of the beginning of the 2006?2007 academic year, the local program must meet the following minimum requirements and demonstrate the fulfillment of these requirements in a written program description submitted to the State Board of Education by the local educational agency operating the program and modified if the program is substantively altered:
(1) The use of a minimum of 3 assessment measures used to identify gifted and talented children in each area in which a program for gifted and talented children is established, which may include without limitation scores on standardized achievement tests, observation checklists, portfolios, and currently?used district assessments…(and the list goes on):”
I believe that there is much to be gained, very little if anything, to be lost, in trying a charter school. I prefer giving people more choice (though I don’t agree with vouchers). I don’t believe ALL students who go to the charter would otherwise leave the district – most who can afford to leave already have. I don’t care who gets the credit, or who gets the blame – we can not afford to maintain the status quo. (Ok, Ok, I watched President Obama tonight!)
Jon: I already knew all of that–but I’ve also been around long enough to know that what’s on paper often doesn’t relate to reality. The reality is that there will probably be a charter school. Also, there isn’t that much left to cherrypick in 150–NCLB scores tell us that; therefore, my guess is that the charter school will have the same problems and my prediction is that it will not be performing any miracles either–unless it is allowed to kick out students who do not conform to rules, etc. If 150 could do that, it would also be a success.
A number of poor Adult Ed users must commute by walking up the hill, such as prisoners across from downtown library and folks working on their GED who would have faced greater difficulty accessing a different site, possibly causing some to leave the program. You’re talking in some cases about folks who don’t own a winter coat.
These often forgotten-about education customers might not have been willing or able to endure another hour or two commuting by busing and still balance busy work and family lives, just so a Bradley professor can walk to class…nothing against BU profs, or 150 admins.
I’m just pleased to see fewer of our neighbors falling through the cracks, because they really need our help at this time in their lives.
I beleive the Charter School could have an “appearance” of being selective, because of the nature of students and families that it draws. Emerge had a video on her website some time back of parents talking about their children being selected to attend a NY city charter school, they were passionate, almost in tears for the opportunity given to their child.
I see families in troubled Dist. 150 neighborhood schools seeking this as a option and being thrilled for the opportunity.
Frustrated: This charter school will be especially attractive because it promises
“to meet the needs of students at all times.” I guess it will provide food, clothing, and shelter to students, in addition to meeting their educational needs. The 44-page proposal produced by the Peoria Charter School Initiative is full of grammatical errors (I found over 100 in the first 22 pages). I tend to assume that the contents of the plan was just as carelessly and thoughtlessly thrown together.