Tag Archives: Grenita Lathan

General News, Peoria Public Schools

School Superintendents: Fresno vs. Peoria

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Have you heard about this? The school superintendent in Fresno County, California, Larry Powell, is a hero to taxpayers nationwide:

Some people give back to their community. Then there’s Fresno County School Superintendent Larry Powell, who’s really giving back. As in $800,000 – what would have been his compensation for the next three years.

Until his term expires in 2015, Powell will run 325 schools and 35 school districts with 195,000 students, all for less than a starting California teacher earns.

“How much do we need to keep accumulating?” asks Powell, 63. “There’s no reason for me to keep stockpiling money.”

…[Powell asked] his board to allow him to return $288,241 in salary and benefits for the next three and a half years of his term. He technically retired, then agreed to be hired back to work for $31,000 a year – $10,000 less than a first-year teacher – and with no benefits.

Setting aside for a moment Powell’s generosity, though, take a look at his salary and responsibilities compared to District 150’s superintendent:

  Fresno Supt. Peoria Supt.
Schools 325 28
Districts 35 1
Students 195,000 13,021
Salary $288,241* $198,000**
*Including benefits | **Not including benefits

The school board also awarded District 150’s superintendent a $10,000 bonus this year. It seems the Fresno superintendent has a much bigger responsibility. If you run the numbers, you’ll see that Peoria’s school system is less than 7% the size of Fresno’s by enrollment, yet our superintendent’s salary is almost 70% the size of Fresno’s — not including benefits.

Am I suggesting that our superintendent should only get 7% of what Fresno’s makes (it comes to a little less than $20,000)? No, of course not. But I am questioning whether $198,000 is too high, given the size of our school district. If the Fresno superintendent thinks he’s overpaid at $288,000, and his school district is nearly 14 times the size of ours, then it seems we may have a problem — especially when you factor in the cost of living. According to BestPlaces.net, Fresno is 26% more expensive than Peoria, housing in Fresno is 75% more expensive than Peoria, and a salary equivalent to $198,000 in Peoria would be $250,371 in Fresno.

I’m sure I’ll be accused of comparing apples and oranges, but it does make a taxpayer wonder if our salary scales for administrators are too high. The educational opportunities provided at schools, such as scholarships for masters degree, may be one of he reasons. And oh, that there would be more public-sector workers like Powell — ones who would say, “There’s no reason for me to keep stockpiling money,” and voluntarily take a pay cut for the sake of better government service.

Peoria Public Schools

District 150 disputes press release from Rev. Watson

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After I posted the press release from Rev. Raymond E. Watson, Jr., I was received some e-mail messages disputing the accusations made. So I made some inquiries. School Board member Laura Petelle stated, “Contrary to what this press release claims, I have not been contacted by this group or any individual claiming to be connected to it, though I realized people sometimes misspell my last name when attempting to e-mail me. However, I attempted to contact them after receiving this press release and they have not returned my attempts at contact.”

In addition, I requested an official response from District 150 through Stacey Shangraw, who referred me to the new FOIA officer. My e-mail to the new FOIA officer wasn’t acknowledged, but Petelle forwarded me this e-mail from Superintendent Lathan (with Lathan’s permission). She also forwarded the e-mail to Billy Dennis (Peoria Pundit) and Emerge Peoria.

Board Members,

In response to Reverend Watson’s “press release” here are the actual facts about PHS. To my knowledge, only one blogger has inquired about the press release.

1) All principals and Central Office administrators in the District, who were not already on multi-year contracts, have been offered one-year contracts. There were no exceptions. Any ongoing multi-year contracts prior to my arrival must be honored. New principals were offered multi-year contracts.

2) Textbooks are an ongoing issue throughout our District. Several years ago, we evaluated our textbook process as a Six-Sigma project. We improved the process, but our high student mobility rate is an issue. To correct his letter, the first Peoria High textbook request sent to the warehouse was dated August 19, not August 1. The warehouse has filled all of the received textbook requisitions that are able to be filled.

3) There are only two plumbing work orders outstanding for PHS. A Sept. 30 work order for a leaking drinking fountain and an Oct. 5 work order for two toilets – one fills slowly and the other has a broken flush handle. A nearby plumbing service would need to be contacted.

4) I am developing a schedule to meet with all parent groups to introduce myself and allow time for Q&A.

5) We have been working collaboratively with the City to address the after school safety issues :

a) The posting of new signs on North Street indicating “No Stopping or Standing” and indicating no left turn onto North Street between the hours of 2:00 & 4:00 PM Monday through Friday.

b) Requesting support from the Parking Enforcement Division to assist in the enforcement of parking violations.

c) The installation of gates that will prevent vehicles from exiting designated entrance / exits.

d) The moving of the public bus stop form Richmond/North to Nebraska/North

e) The purchase of video cameras to tape student dismissal and after school activities.

f) Conduct school assemblies at all high schools regarding sidewalk safety.

Grenita F. Lathan, Ph.D.
Superintendent
Peoria Public Schools
3202 N. Wisconsin Avenue
Peoria, IL 61603

Peoria Public Schools

ISBE to Peoria: Psych!

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From the Journal Star:

Grenita Lathan has been granted that needed endorsement to take the helm as superintendent at Peoria School District 150 after all.

Despite state education officials saying Tuesday the process still was taking place and they had not received the supporting documentation needed to receive her certification, the endorsement was issued Tuesday afternoon.

Is it just me, or does it look like the right hand doesn’t know know what the left hand is doing at the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE)? In yesterday’s paper, spokeswoman for the ISBE Mary Fergus was quoted as saying, “To date, Grenita Lathan has not submitted the necessary paperwork proving she’s met all the Illinois requirements for a superintendent certificate,” and District 150 spokeswoman Stacey Shangraw told the paper “Lathan submitted application materials to the state twice because they ‘lost’ the first set.”

So, to recap, Lathan sent her paperwork, and the ISBE lost it. Then Lathan sent her paperwork again, and the ISBE said they never received it. But while their spokesperson was explaining to the press that they hadn’t received Lathan’s paperwork, someone else at the ISBE was busy issuing Lathan a superintendent certificate.

As if we don’t have enough drama in Peoria, now we have the ISBE messing with us.

Peoria Public Schools

On tonight’s School Board agenda: New Superintendent

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The Board of Education for Peoria Public Schools District 150 will meet tonight at district headquarters on Wisconsin Avenue, 6:00 p.m. The most important item on tonight’s agenda:

“12. APPROVAL OF CONTRACT FOR DR. GRENITA LATHAN
Proposed Action: That the employment contract for Dr. Grenita F. Lathan be approved and executed by the parties.”

WCBU-FM (89.9) is reporting that the board is expected to unanimously approve the contract, and that Lathan will not be in attendance at the meeting. If the contract is approved, Lathan is expected to begin July 1.

The board members I’ve talked to have all been impressed by Lathan, and feel she will make a positive difference at District 150. I sincerely wish her the best of luck here in Peoria.

Peoria Public Schools

Finalist arrives to greet press, sees shadow; five more months of interim

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Like a shooting star, the finalist for Superintendent of Peoria Public Schools District 150 made a very brief public appearance Tuesday:

At a brief event billed as a “meet and greet” between Peoria School District 150’s finalist for school superintendent and members of the media, Grenita Lathan called on the community to get behind the city’s schools…. Lathan took no questions from the media Tuesday during the event, leaving after reading her minute-and-a-half speech.

That’s right. District 150 invited all the press down for a big “meet and greet,” and it consisted of the finalist coming in, reading a 90-second statement, then quickly leaving the room without taking any questions. No meeting. No greeting. Just reading and running.

*sigh*

You know, I really don’t go looking for negative things to say about District 150. In fact, I’ve been trying to be very positive about this whole superintendent search, and I’m still hopeful that Ms. Lathan will bring some stability and lots of improvement to the district.

But what exactly was the point of this falsely-advertised non-event? To tick off the press corp? To damage trust? To reinforce the culture of stonewalling and non-transparency they’ve worked so hard to establish? What? If all they wanted was to share a short statement and not take questions, why didn’t they just send out a press release and save everyone a bunch of time?

Also of note, citizen journalist Billy Dennis was denied entry to the press conference. From his description, it sounds like they spent more time arguing with him than the superintendent finalist spent reading her statement. I’m guessing this was just an attempt to make sure everyone went away disappointed.

I hope this is not indicative of district communication under a Lathan administration.