The Public Building Commission is worried. They still have $30 million more in bonding capacity, and they might not get to spend it if District 150 doesn’t get its act together soon.
You may recall that the Public Building Commission (PBC) was established in 1955, but school districts used it so much in the 1980s that there was significant voter backlash, which led to the state legislature making school districts ineligible to get funding through the PBC after 1993. Well, District 150 didn’t let that stop them. In 2006, thanks to then Senator Shadid and Representative Schock, District 150 got access to the PBC once again, but only until July 1, 2011. According to a Journal Star article from earlier in the year, “any project needing funding must be significantly completed by July 2011.” And that means there’s not much time left.
Spending PBC money is a win-win for District 150 and the PBC, but not for voters and taxpayers. If municipal organizations stop borrowing from the PBC, it will cease to exist, so the PBC has to keep marketing itself to other governmental bodies. Executive secretary for the PBC James Thornton has been doing just that. For months now, he’s been trying to cajole District 150 to find a way to max out the PBC’s bonding capacity. Of course, the benefit to District 150 is they get to raise taxes for capital projects without having to get voter approval.
District 150 has a new Harrison School and a new Glen Oak School under construction, and they have done remodeling and enlargement at Richwoods, Northmoor, Lindbergh, and Kellar. After all that, they thought they had used up all their PBC bonding capacity, but surprise! Due to recent annexation, the total Equalized Assessed Value of property in Peoria went up. Since the PBC’s bonding authority is set as a percentage of EAV, its bonding capacity also increased. So now the PBC and District 150 are just looking for a project — any project — that will allow them to spend this extra money.
To hear some board members talk about it, they view it as some sort of moral imperative that they use every last dollar of bonding capacity (also known as debt) — that they take full advantage of this “opportunity” to access the PBC before the five-year window closes. Thus, they are doing back bends to try and please the PBC. That’s one of the biggest reasons why they closed Woodruff High School.
That’s no way to make educational decisions. And it’s not in the best interests of taxpayers, either.
And yet, we have a principal who is holding our kids to a standard that is improving the atmosphere at the school and people come on here and complain because he talks about himself and fired the ol ball coach. Can anybody honestly say that Richwoods is worse off today than it was three years ago. I loved the past admins as much as the next guy, but I see the improvements in the atmosphere. It is not just me, either. I guess I am just tired of people complaining about teachers that have either left or have been let go. I would take our current staff any day of the week, because all the former Manual teachers are GREAT and we are lucky to have them at RHS. I completely agree with Sharon and Jeff in that it could not have possibly have been any of their fault. They are doing great in their current situations. What has changed? They are being supported by Ptacek and our hands are not tied when it comes to discipline. I sincerely hope things get better at Trewyn for the district’s sake. Maybe they can all take an inservice on holding students accountable from our principal.
Thank you, RHSteacher for giving the former Manual teachers the credit they deserve. Every time I hear Kherat laying blame on the former teachers, I know what will happen next. She will soon blame her own “hand-picked” teachers (already happening). All problems will be laid at the teachers’ feet. The result, of course, is that the problems will never be solved because no one is looking for the right solutions. More common planning time, more in services, etc., will not resolve any of these problems.
Yes, my daughter loves Richwoods High School. She comes home daily talking about how much fun she has. The principal at RHS is no punk when it comes to discipline. He doesn’t mollycoddle kids . . . thereby enabling them to fail . . . He holds students accountable . . . thereby enabling them to succeed.
Trewyn Teachers: What Sharon and I had to do at Manual when our school was so out of control that teachers literally feared for their lives is detail everything and send it not only to all of the board members BUT TO THE PEORIA JOURNAL STAR as well. Nothing happened until we went (full force) to the media. Detail everything . . . and send it to the PJStar. Drag the situation into the light. ASAP. The buffoons who allow the madness at Trewyn to continue are convinced that they are the only ones who understand inner-city children . . . that if only you teachers “understood” the children, they would behave. The irony, of course, is that these buffoons not only don’t understand inner-city children, they don’t under the nature of children period. Give any child (regardless of his family’s income level or her racial background) free reign to do whatever he or she wants . . . and he / she will run wild. Duh. In an inner-city school . . . once you get behind the discipline eight ball . . . very, very extreme measures must be taken to restore order. Maybe once Uncle Mapleton joins the other 199 residents in his home town . . . leaving Peoria for good . . . Durflizzle will restore order and pave the way for a superintendent who can balance the budget . . . maintain order . . . trim the administrative fat . . . maintain transparency . . . and let the teachers get back to the business of teaching. Wouldn’t it be nice to teach instead of having to spend 98% of your time trying to hold things together amid this madness?
Manual Teachers: There’s going to be a dialogue sparked with the teachers who quit. The truth will be told. Talked to a Bradley observer who said the observing experience at Manual was interesting because you never knew what to expect. . . . Often out of control . . . And . . . the Manual observation experience apparently persuaded more than one college youngster to abandon the field of education. W-O-W!
The irony in all of this is that teachers want reform . . . The problem is that our administration is so lacking in competence that we’ve had to fortify for the sake of survival. We met with W. Patrick Dolan . . . Get his book about school restructuring if you want to see how things in 150 could be transformed.
Are any of the students at Trewyn that are causing trouble special ed?
Jeff is right (always is). There is strength in numbers and the public, the administration, the board members simply must be forced to hear the truth and the decision-makers must be forced to change the mind-set in 150. Students will thank you–so many (even the participants) tire of chaos–many of these young people have chaos in their lives–they used to come to school to escape the chaos; they would welcome calm that they could expect every day–instead of waiting for the next fight to break out. They need the adult leaders of their schools to provide the calm learning environment that 150 actually promises but doesn’t deliver. Also, I agree with Jeff that Ptecek at Richwoods is an asset to 150. Of course, I don’t mean that as a detraction to John Meishner–former Manual teacher about whom I never heard any complaints when he was the Richwoods principal.
I’m embarrassed–of course, I meant John Meisinger (sp). The similarity with Ken Mesichner’s (again sp) name has always caused me confusion. Hi, Ken! I know you’re reading–not sure about John.
Godfather’s at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1–all are welcome; there is much to discuss, especially with the new plan to spend $18 million on Lincoln and $6 million to air condition PHS. More importantly, this would be a good time for as many as possible to show up at the BOE meeting Monday night. When the BOE looks out at the audience and sees just 10 people, they believe that no one cares what they do.
RhsTEACHER not many share your opinion and I am sorry that you hate it when people complain about the “ol ball coach” or you’re co workers who are let go. Hopefully you are never wronged by the powers that be. RHS is a great school, great teachers, great kids. I don’t think anyone can argue that. But when a 35 year coaching veteran, state champion winner[ Twice @ RHS] successful school teacher [again 35 years] is cut two weeks before the season starts and the new Principal tells more than one story to parents, kids, and staff…do ya love that type of envionment? Did you think that winning the state bb championship was nothing of value to the school? the city? I am floored by your post. I have yet to speak with a teacher who is doing the cartwheels you are over Principal Ptacek.
teach, a better environment at RW because of the little General????
Please, has there been a reduction is fights at school?
I agree with parent, Ptacek is loathed by parents, students and staff.
Not all of any of them mind you, but way more than the previous Principal.
Too bad M.D. is on administrative leave, I am sure she could terminate Ptacek for no cause (at least publicly) since the parents don’t like him. She has experience in that department.
DP–I strongly disagree with your values, opinions, and manner in which you express them.
I have been in RHS as a sub both this year and last. I can say that the overall environment is much better this year. Yes, there are still fights–it is a high school, for heaven’s sake (and they have them at Morton, as well). Do you have to agree with everything the principal does to have respect for him? No. I have the utmost respect for Steve and I , most certainly, don’t always agree with him. Actually, I like to disagree so I can learn about how another person might see a specific situation.
In some respects, Ptacek reminds me of kcdad. I have the utmost respect fro both of them because they make me look at myself and my values more closely than I am usually comfortable with.
Calling people names on this blog is offensive for all who are here. There are many times that I would like to call people names but have found that it is better to be nice.
hmmmm: I thoroughly agree. Funny, Ptacek has FAR less experience than McArdle, yet was given a 4 year contract compared to McArdle’s 2 year contract (with a one year clause she didn’t know about). Wow, he must have been Super Principal in Centralia (I think that’s where he’s from). But, hey, he’s a MAN, therefore, he must be BETTER. Sadly, the glass ceiling lingers….gossip and inuendo by a very small group of parents and staff at Lindbergh have destroyed the career of a professional in the first degree, for no other reason than that they chose to talk to Mary Davis about their concerns (who, by the way, NEVER told McArdle anything) instead of taking it to Mrs. McArdle, who was NEVER given a chance to even hear those concerns…..Are you listening now?
There has been a reduction in fights at school. There has been improved behaviors at school. I do not know why Gross was let go and I do think John was a great coach and that is all I know of him. I did not know him personally because he never worked at RHS with me. He was not a teacher at RHS, so all he lost was a coaching position. If he so desired, he could easily take his 35 years and get a coaching job at almost any school in the area. I apprceiate all the hard work that he has done to bring RHS back to the top of the ranks in Girl’s BB, and I do not think that his two state titles with us were nothing. However, I would rather be known as a great academic school that educates all their kids effectively that has good sports teams, than the reverse. Ptacek has never told the staff why he let Gross go and it is none of our business either. Any thoughts of mine would be pure conjecture and so I will not post them here. I would say that McArdle is a good analogy, because it is mostly the former faves that do not like the new little General. John and Steve were awesome and perfect for RHS and I loved them both. I am not nor will I ever knock their skills. However, Steve is different than them and that is leading some to not like him for that reason.
John Meisinger would be a hard act to follow. He attended Peoria schools, was President of his senior class, had what? 3 or 4 children that also attended Peoria schools. He taught in the schools and worked his way up. Everyone knew him and I don’t know anyone that didn’t like him. It has to be hard to follow in John’s footsteps.
And yes, Just Amazing, interesting about the difference in the two contracts. Is that discrimination? Or have the grade school and high school contracts always been different?
mawb: should contracts be different? McArdle had no assistant principal, deans, counselors, home-school facilitator, or security. She was required to wear ALL those hats, while Mr. Ptacek appears to be a “figure-head”. I don’t mean that as a criticism, but he simply makes sure EVERYBODY else does their job—that is his job. I also do not believe that high school principals are advised(by central admin) to go to ALL sporting events for supervision, unlike middle school principals. I believe D150 bends over and pulls a $ out of their behind and says—ok this is what we’ll pay you. There is absolutely NO system in place for hiring principals from outside the district. Take for instance, the principal that was hired to replace McArdle, he started out at more than $2000.00 a year more than her, yet he had 1/2 as many years of experience! By the way, McArdle started her teaching career in D150 24 years ago. What’s the deal here BOE?
MAWB: I’m glad to hear your assessment of John Meisinger–in all his years at Richwoods I never heard anyone complain about him. I certainly have high regard for him. So far the only complaint I’ve heard about Ptacek is with regard to the Gross situation. I believe that the union–if it chooses to–has an obligation to defend Gross if he wants to be defended. I’m not certain how all that works since Gross is just a coach, not a RHS teacher. I’m a bit prejudiced about the original situation because Kevin Armstrong is a former student (so I bend a bit in his direction). Situations like this (especially involving coaches) always draw strong support on both sides. Personally, I like Steve–will he be perfect? Who of us is? I am not sure I understand Just Amazing’s assessment of a high school principal as just a figurehead. Certainly, being a high school principal is a tough job–right off the bat a high school principal has many more on his/her staff and many more activities to coordinate. Others might do much of the work, but the principal will ultimately take the blame for mistakes of his staff. I believe that Steve almost was assigned to Manual during initial application conversations–could be wrong. In light of my criticisms of Kherat, it might be interesting to speculate how I would feel if Steve had been assigned to Manual. The truth of the matter, of course, is that Steve started out with a better situation–he walked into a school that had already been run well. Sharon wasn’t that lucky. Of course, taking the place of a popular principal might give Steve a slight disadvantage–during the “getting-to-know him” process.
Unfortunately, it is a shame Mrs. McArdle wasn’t given the same “getting-to-know her” process that Mr. Ptacek received.
Just qmazing: Agreed–John, as a former principal–wouldn’t have made life difficult for Steve. As far as I know, the one time I saw John out shopping since his retirement–he seems really happy to be among the retired and wouldn’t wish Steve anything but good. MD didn’t provide much support for her successor–from what I hear.
just amazing, I was simply wondering if there was a precedent set for hiring principals all these years, and from your comments I believe there has not been one. It seems to me that McArdle was set up for failure. Do the men always get higher pay in Dist. 150? It seems to be so.
mawb: as I stated in an earlier post, D150 simply makes arbitrary decisions based on oh, I don’t know, how tall you are, how well you dress, the color of your hair……I sincerely believe that to be true. Many board members have asked Mr. Hinton et al how they arrive at salaries. Please don’t give me that well, they have many hours past a masters or they came highly recommended…….Obviously, Mr. Ptacek bargained his own contract, good for him.
I don’t think that higher pay for men in 150 is the case. Manual’s principals have some of the highest pay in the district and they are women. I think some of the high salaries are due to longevity in the district. However, in the past, there have been more male principals–that has changed a bit.
I believe that Sharon Kherat has only been in D150 for 12 years. She used to work at the Urban League before Taunya Jenkins hired her to be her assistant principal at Roosevelt.
I don’t think pay is always based on experience. Education is key. If someone has their doctorate as opposed to a masters then, even with less experience their pay will be more. I have no idea what McArdle’s education was, not do I know the new principal’s. I think hours of education count also. People can have years of experience, but others with less experience and more education will get the higher pay. It’s the same in most businesses, but I think especially education.
trust me, mawb, it is arbitrary…
MAWB–You are correct–Sharon, I believe, has a type 75 (administrator certification) but is also certified to be a superintendent of schools–so is Val Pierce, the 7th & 8th grade academy leader and Taunya will have it by December. Just amazing: You are right about the jobs Kherat has held–it seems like more than 12 years. The important thing about Sharon’s experience (I could be wrong) but she has never taught in any classroom except for student teaching at Manual and maybe in classes at Urban League. I don’t think she has any inner city teaching experience and Whittier does not have the problems that exist in Peoria’s other inner city schools. She has to be in shock as to the behaviors she has encountered at Manual–I just wish she could admit it.
My biggest complaint about Pierce’s high salary is that there should not be a high-paid person in charge of just 7 or 8 teachers and 112 students.
I thought per IL law that a teacher must teach in a classroom setting no less than 4 semesters, or two years before they can get a Type 75? How did Kherat get around that?
Just amazing: Do you think Urban League would have counted–they did have classes–very small, I think. She may have done that–just not sure when. EmergePeoria.com has an article that states that Sharon started her career as a middle school teacher–I just don’t know where that was because I thought she had lived in Peoria since the late 1980s, when she got her degrees at Bradley.
You dont agree with my values or the manner in which I express them..
Its a forum? You mean you disagree with me because I dont share your views. So your values are fine, but mine arent?
Why are you making this personal, you dont even know me. I am talking about the Principal at a school where I have had 4 children graduate from and currently have children attending. You dont know the first thing about where I am coming from.
Sharon: I can’t answer that. All I know is what other teachers in D150 told me “back in the day” was that Sharon Kherat had never taught in IL, much less D150 prior to becoming an administrator. Who knows, this is all conjecture, at this point. And a rather moot one at that, now that she is Dr. Kherat, right!
Just amazing–that’s still my impression, also.
Heard a neat little rumor tonight—the rumor is that Dr. Kherat is in line to Hinton’s successor and Taunya will be promoted to principal of MHS.
I wonder whose dream/nightmare world that came from?
In the spirit of transparency, I would expect D150 to do a complete audit of activity funds at Rms while Jenkins was the Principal and at Whittier while Kherat was at the helm. Don’t think that’s a lot to ask….if these two administrators aspire to “higher office” their financial finesse is extremely important.
I wasn’t putting much stock in it, but when I logged in here tonight and saw the discussion about Dr. Kherat and Jenkins, I couldn’t help my self. Dist150 has a history of promoting people that are in a failing situation (HH, MD, TJ).
It’s a rumor that I have heard–more about Taunya than Kherat–but, as long as they hold the certification, I would never say never.
Hey bamcdaniel: You are so correct. It has always been thus: “The more you screw up in 150, the more you get promoted.” Also, if that is true about Jenkins, I hope they have someone to help her with accounting.
tonights discussion brought to you by the producers of “Fools in LaLaland”
I see your true colors shininnng through, I see your truuue colors and thats why I love youuuu. So don’t be afraaaid to let it show.. your true colors are beautiful like a rainboooow…
Someone at Manual told me that there has already been an exodus of staff members but if the rumors that they have also heard about Kherat and Jenkins both being bumped up become true, then there will most likely be an exodus of Biblical proportions. Wow!
Can someone just explain to me why teachers can see what is happening in District 150, but no one, not the community, not the BOE, or the administration seem to see it? Do teachers in District 150 have some sort of special power to see the mess that is being made at Manual, yet the administrators over there keep singing, “pie in the sky”? If the people of the city of Peoria do not move quickly, 1/2 of the Woodruff students will be sent to Peoria High and the other half to Manual. A very small (very small) handful of students will go to Richwoods because they do not have very much room for the Woodruff students. Excuse me for this comment but, isn’t Manual a CHOICE school and if I don’t want my child to go there, I don’t have to, RIGHT? On top of all of that, almost half of Manual’s staff is non-tenured, with people literally quitting, midyear and with a high school closing there will be many pink-slipped teachers at Manual. Don’t you think that if any of Woodruff staff had WANTED to teach the Johns Hopkins Program, they would have already transferred over there? WHAT A MESS!
This is me: I stood in front of the board 2 weeks ago and said that Johns Hopkins Talent Development program was established, developed, and sold as a program for at-risk and/or low-performing students. I told them that the parents of current students should have been told this is a watered-down curriculum (partly but no wholly due to reducing all academic courses from 1 year to 1 semester on a block schedule). I told them that the Woodruff parents should be told before they make the “choice” to send their children to Manual. My guess is that there will be very little choice. Frankly, I have had a hard time getting anybody–board members, administration, general public–interested in what goes on at Manual (Jeff and I’ve been trying since 1999, at least). Now that Woodruff students might be sent to Manual maybe someone will pay attention. I am sure that the tenured Woodruff teachers will not be happy with a transfer to Manual. I don’t want them to suffer, but I believe there would be some changes made–Woodruff teachers aren’t used to the kind of treatment that Manual teachers receive. I really don’t know why board members won’t listen. I think Jim has seen the light–hope the light stays on. 🙂 Gorenz, in an e-mail to me, wrote the problems off as societal changes–and the implication was that the board couldn’t do anything about that–wrong, wrong, wrong. At least, they need to prove that they are trying–and if they can’t do it, they should let everyone in the city know that there are problems that can’t be solved and that they are done trying. Maybe it would help if they would stop blaming teachers–I know a tired song no one wants to hear. The first 15 minutes of their meetings are devoted to wonderful things happening in the district and then they cringe when someone stands at the podium to tell them the rest of the story.
Breaks my heart, especially for the children of Peoria…..
(AP) – Peoria – Several children trick or treating @ a noted realtors home were fired upon at dusk. Evidently they were dressed as Dist. 150 administrators and the scarecrow from The wizard of Oz. None had any brains, nor knew that there was an extra hour today. Shortened days to resume at school as planned. Police made no arrests, but gave a stern warning that there is a need for an alternative school. Press conference Sunday @ 6pm @ Godfathers (aka – Hintons Hideout).
Before they were fired upon did one of them recite a paragraph stating how long they could speak and not to be rude…..?
Too funny!!!
Thanks for the Halloween humor–a perfect ending to the last of my trick or treaters.
Did anybody notice on the D150 agenda for tomorrow night that they are changing their meeting dates from every week to the 2nd and 4th Mondays?
serenity- The kids at Trewyn who are causing problems are not special ed kids. Mainly they are the 8th graders trying to run the building. I really shouldn’t say trying they are running the building down there
United Front – so what causes these Trewyn tyrants to act as they do? I have read a lot of administration bashing, and accusations that there is not appropriate discipline at schools like Trewyn and Manual, but really . . . the conduct of these students is unbelievable. This is not an education problem. This is a social service problem. I do not understand how this situation can be “fixed” by schools.