I don’t get it. Jim Stowell, on the School Board has told me privately many times that he felt Peoria High School (PHS) should remain open because he had envisioned big plans for that campus because of the property the school owns around PHS, or so I thought. Yet now the info I have handed to me today says otherwise about Stowell. I don’t get it.
Here are some facts;
1.PHS building is larger than Woodruff (WHS). PHS: 248,500 sq ft to WHS: 232,000 sq ft.
2. PHS campus is larger. 21.3 acres to WHS 17.1 acres
3. PHS costs less to operate but due to neglect by District 150, PHS needs improvements. District 150 did have the money but Richwoods got the improvements instead.
4. The PHS Pool complex is in better shape than WHS. Park Disrict runs this pool.
5. PHS has better State test scores than either Manual or WHS with improved ACT scores.
6. of course there is a 150 years plus history with the richest alumni that gives a great deal of money that would certainly dry up if PHS is closed.
Although I think Manual should have been the school to close but there is a State precedent stating districts must close the smallest and/or poorest school if closure is needed and closing Manual would require more bussing of students farther. Manual does have the lowest scores and enrollment. Manual isn’t even considered for closing.
No matter. I don’t think Stowell has enough support and also there is some concern about what high school would lose or qualify for Title 1 monies. I just wonder why I must have mis-understood Jim when we talked over lunch at PHS and other times. PHS seem to be the one school the District could reshape, now he thinks it should go. huh
14 comments:
I am torn on this issue. I went to PHS, so I hate to see it close, but it's so centrally located that I am surprised they would close it. Woodruff does seem to be in better shape. I agree, I think Manual should be the school to close. Either way, when one of these schools closes, I would think that ND or Peoria Christian is going to see the enrollment go up.
My question is... ok, we close a school, where is the plan for what is going to happen to these kids? Is Hinton making the plan after the closing? There should be two to three plans on the table so people, especially the school board, can make an educated vote. Where is the plan for what happens if Woodruff closes? Where is the plan for what happens if Central closes? Where is the plan or what happens if Manual closes? What are the expenses to run each school and how will that change? What are the expenses to fix Central? How much does it cost to rent the pool time as compared to paying to keep up a pool?
Has the board been given any of this information? Why hasn't this information been put in the PJS so the public can contact their elected members and ask questions or give an opinion?
Why is there never a friggin plan? Can you imagine CAT shutting down Mossville and not having a plan as to what is going to happen next? Or the city shutting down City Hall with no plan as to where all of those people are going?
If plans have been presented, please show them to me.
PAP
I have previously heard Stowell's vision - he wants to close PHS so that it can be refurbished and reopened with the MST charter and other things. The "other things" is where it really gets sketchy. He did talk of closing Columbia and turning Jefferson in to a K-8 school again. His vision wasn't complete at that time - hopefully he has the full plan now.
Shouldn't Hinton and all his consultants be coming up with plans to present to the school board? Since when is it the school board's job to come up with the plans and present them to adminstration?
Since the administration doesn't have a clue about how to begin attracting families back to the District.
I feel like I am watching a train wreck. I have children in both the proposed targets. I suspect that my kids will either lose access to the enhanced tech or arts, or most likely, lose both.
I agree that the one thing missing from the closing plans by Hinton or Stowell is any mention of the kids effected. There really does not seem to be a great deal of evidence that the kids are all that high on the District's priority list.
I do not think we need more consultants or their reports. I do not think that we benefit in any way waiting on the end of Mr. Hinton's term, whether that come via a buy out or the simple passage of time. We need to start looking at recall procedures.
How 'bout this? Don't close either one of them. Start working REALLY hard at improving the test scores and trying to ATTRACT people to want to send their kids to both PHS and Woodruff.
This won't lower our taxes. They will continue to go up. "Re-tooling" Central is stupid. Population is cyclical; unfortunately, stupid School Board decisions are not. In Peoria, they happen ALL the time.
Em, I heard a rumor that the park district did not renew the pool contract with Central.... any truth to that?
MAWB--
I looked back through all Park Board meeting minutes from March 11th and could not find anything to verify that. I will go back a little further and continue looking.
MAWB--
I looked back through all Park Board meeting minutes from March 11th and could not find anything to verify that. I will go back a little further and continue looking.
MAWB--
I looked back through all Park Board meeting minutes from March 11th and could not find anything to verify that. I will go back a little further and continue looking.
Going all the way back through the November, 2009 minutes, there appears to be no mention of a contract cancellation between D150 and PPD.
Emtronics: I didn't know that we agreed about closing Manual. I love Manual, not the building, but all my former students, most of whom have children in other Peoria schools. Manual should have been closed and turned into a alternative and/or vocational school. I don't even believe there would have been that much opposition to closing Manual and I think current Manual students would be better off elsewhere.
Sharon: I truly believe that because of economic times the District has and the shrinking enrollment, they must close a high school and I really thought it should have been Manual which then could be refitted to handle what Harrison is no being built for thus saving millions.
I've just been talking to Jim Stowell. I told him the same--that there is probably no way to avoid closing a high school, but that it was just done in the wrong way--especially, as you allude to--since the district is spending money all over the place and then with Hinton changing the savings from 2.7 mil to 1.5 to 2.7 mil--doesn't build trust. I feel strongly about an alternative school (I think Jim does, too). I thought Manual would be a good place for that. I still believe Manual will have to fold--the district can't continue to pay such a high price for such low enrollment. I hope that some things can get straightened out fairly soon so that I am not so prone to criticizing so much. For the first 30 years of my career I was a Pollyanna--so I guess I'm making up for it.
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