Two file petitions for 2011 BOE vacancies

Pjstar first in print is reporting that General Parker, former candidate for Mayor, has filed his petition to be placed on the April 2011 ballot for BOE. Apparently, Parker has an outstanding civil fine, which was imposed by the State Board of Elections after he failed to file documents related to his run for Mayor. The $1,200 fine can be nullified after two years if not paid. But during that time, it could prevent Parker from appearing on the ballot.

The pjstar also took advantage of the opportunity to raise again the fact that Parker has some criminal infractions from his youth on his record. The pjstar writer speculates about the Illinois Election Code noting that any person convicted of an "infamous crime" shall be "prohibited from holding any office of honor, trust, or profit, unless such person is again restored to such rights by the terms of a pardon for the offense or otherwise according to the law."

The deadline to file petitions is December 20th. There are two vacancies coming open and so far only Parker and Mike Mitchell have filed petitions. Debbie Wolfmeyer, the current BOE President is still gathering signatures; and Jim Stowell has said that he does not plan on running.

Mary Davis honored with bench? UPDATED

... the plaque has been removed (October 4, 2010).

Today, a commenter claiming to be Julie McArdle's husband, posted on Peoria Chronicle that Mary Davis has been honored with a bench at Lindbergh School.

The post:
"A bench was permanently installed near the front entrance of Lindbergh Middle School on Friday Oct 1st 2010. There is a nameplate attached to the bench that reads, “Simply the Best, Ms. Davis”.

As Julie McArdle’s husband, I am disappointed that given the circumstances, “the powers that be” would allow this to happen."

In October of 2009, Mary Davis, who had been on paid leave since September from her position as District 150 academic officer, was fired with a BOE vote of 5-0. Board members David Gorenz and Jim Stowell were not present for the vote. The BOE vote came four days after Davis, pleaded not guilty to 16 felony counts of official misconduct and theft. While principal at Charles Lindbergh Middle School, Davis is alleged to have taken money from the school two times in 2005, four times in 2006 and two times in 2007.

Davis served as Lindbergh principal five years before becoming District 150 academic officer in 2008.

Questions have been raised as to who authorized the bench to be installed on school grounds. After a quick review of the Lindbergh website, the only reference I could find to a bench is an April, 2010 notation in the PTO minutes under New Business:

NEW BUSINESS - Class gift/letter-MELANIE GRAY
For the 8th grade class gift, a suggestion was to collect money for landscaping and possibly a bench. Melanie and Bill Gray are purchasing a decorative rock and paying for the engraving for the Class of 2010.

Was the purchase and installation of the bench simply an 8th grade class wanting to commemorate a Principal for whom they had fond memories? Hopefully the Police line tape will be removed before the children return to school on Monday.

Hat tip to Sharon Crews for the photos.

BOE Notice of deadline for filing a Petition for 2011 election

The seats of two of the Board of Education's most criticized members have terms that are set to expire in April of 2011. Debbie Wolfmeyer, who was elected to the Board from District 2 in 2006, currently serves the Board as President. Mrs. Wolfmeyer also serves on the Strategic Communications Committee. Also set to expire is the District 3 seat that Jim Stowell currently holds. Mr. Stowell also serves the BOE as Chairperson of the Building Committee and Community School Advisory Committee.

The Notice

The Board of Education, City of Peoria, School District #150, hereby gives public notice that two (2) School Board member are to be elected in the election to be held on April 5, 2011. One School Board member is to be elected from the second (2nd) School Election District and one from the third (3rd) School Election District.

Petitions may be obtained from Joan L. Bastian, Secretary of the Board of Education, at her office at 3202 N. Wisconsin Avenue, Peoria, Illinois, during normal office hours. School Board candidates may circulate petitions beginning September 21, 2010. The first day petitions may be filed is Monday, December 13. 2010 at 8:00 a.m. and the last day for filing petitions is Monday, December 20, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. Source

Manual High School awarded $6 million 1003(g) grant

Per a comment posted by BOE Member, Jim Stowell last night, Manual High School has been awarded the 1003(g) grant, which is $6 million dollars over a three year period.

Peoria High, Woodruff and Manual High School were all eligible to receive the funding because of their inability to meet state and federal academic performance standards. However, in April of this year, the District decided to forgo applying for 1003(g) grant for Peoria High School, because it would have required them to remove Principal Randy Simmons.

There are four mandatory options for receiving the grant: close the school; convert it to a charter school; replace the principal and half the staff or more; or replace the principal and initiate a series of changes that include removing low-performing staff and instructional reform.

Manual High School, which is considered a Tier II school, was initially federally mandated to restructure in 2008. Under the restructuring plan, Manual was required to initiate changes that called for replacing the principal and removing a large number of staff members.

Some of the changes Manual has undergone so far, include adding seventh and eighth grades at the high school and instituting program changes based upon research by Johns Hopkins University.

Amidst calls to end the John Hopkins program, because it is too costly, just recently Dr. Lathan made the statement that Manual would be continuing with the program. Many in the educational community are concerned with the monies spent on the John Hopkins program. Hopefully, the awarding of this grant will ease some of those concerns.

Congratulations to Manual High School and Principal Kherat.

Past time for the BOE to lay down some rules

Since the BOE voted to stop airing their meetings, information coming out about the District has been at a minimum (see … moratorium). Three specific reasons have surfaced as to why the meetings are no longer broadcast: control the message, tired of being bullied and the cost.

The fact that not televising the meetings is a cost saver has yet to be proven (even though I seem to recall BOE member Ross asking about it twice). However, it has become evident that the real reason for not televising the meetings is more than likely wanting to control the message, along with not wanting to publicize the level of discourse.

BOE member Stowell is correct that the District should care about the message that the public receives if the speakers make unfounded comments. But not televising the meetings in an attempt to “control the message” won’t work.

BOE member Petelle has speculated that perhaps allowing back and forth dialogue would allow the District to address the unfounded issues immediately. With discourse being at the current levels, in my opinion, back and forth dialogue in this type of forum could be a quagmire.

Sure it’s got to be hard being a BOE member on the end of a well researched issue that you have no knowledge of, delivered jabbingly (new word). However, you can’t deny that the District Watch Group has brought many issues to light that the BOE and the broader public were not aware of.

Mrs. Petelle’s intentions are good, but how many BOE members are really prepared to address the various issues that randomly come up from speakers? The majority of the commenter's at the BOE meetings are very well prepared. They have done the research, they have talked to people, they have handouts and they are passionate about that of which they speak.

Providing opportunities for members of the community, including employees, parents, and students, to have input in local school board deliberations is a very important part of conducting school system business.

At the same time, however, the BOE cannot effectively do its work and reach reasoned decisions if the public commentary portion of BOE meetings sets a tone of incivility and disorder. Thus, policies dealing with public commentary during official meetings of the BOE must make The Rules very clear...

The Rules

The Board encourages, welcomes, and will make opportunities for public comment on matters coming before the Board.
• All comments made during the public commentary portion of Board meetings will be limited to specific items included in the official meeting agenda.
• Individuals wishing to speak during the public comment portion of Board meetings must, prior to the Board meeting, have his/her name placed on an official list of speakers kept by the Clerk of the Board.
• Persons whose names do not appear on the approved list kept by the Clerk of the Board will not be permitted to speak.
• Speakers whose names appear on the list kept by the Clerk of the Board will be called in order and given a specific time limit within which to make their comments to the Board.
• Inappropriate comments, name-calling, profanity, the venting of personal issues, or other disruptive behaviors will not be tolerated.
• Civility will be insisted upon and enforced during all Board meetings.

Any individual or group of individuals whose comments and/or physical behaviors are deemed disruptive of Board business, and/or who engages in speaking on subjects not at the time relevant to matters before the Board, will be removed from the Board chamber and escorted off school system property. Source

If an issue is important enough for back and forth dialogue, perhaps the BOE member could discuss it after the meeting and/or place the item on the Agenda for a later date.

Give these volunteers time to do the research and get answers after the issues are raised and then hold them accountable based upon that feedback.

Isn't blogging a community service?

Emerge recently questioned Board of Education member, Jim Stowell on why he continues to blog and exactly how he remains motivated in such a hostile atmosphere. After checking to make sure Emerge wasn't some randomized avatar Mr. Stowell responded (in part) as follows:

... A lot of wrong information is shared on the blogs and it helps to keep the perceptions of the district mired in negativity. Responding to all questions is difficult, so I now take the tract someone suggested - sign your name and I'll take it in - don't and it rolls on... We have great kids in our district who deserve more opportunities than what they perceive. That is why I challenge the community to step up to help, not just be
content to sit down and blog...

I like that Mr. Stowell is conscious of the perception the community has of the District. But shouldn't the District PR person and/or her assistant be handling that?

Besides, we need Mr. Stowell's finance expertise (BS in Finance and Economics in 1983 and his MBA in 1985 from Bradley University) focused on District 150's finances, the dollars, the money, the budget. When can we see who is on that Budget and Planning Committee?