The Lion's mane

There is a very interesting article in the Sports section of the pjstar about the suspension of Peoria High School Basketball Coach, Dan Ruffin. 

Those who are not from these parts may not know how beloved Coach Ruffin and the Peoria High School Basketball Program is. They also may not know that some of the most prominent citizens in this City played basketball for the Central Lions, that's part of the reason why Peoria High is still standing AND getting improvements.

Let me just say that the pjstar writer went OFF!. I pulled out some of the more salient pieces of the article because many of the statements are now a recurring theme with this Superintendent and her Board...

... climate of intimidation 

cultivated by Superintendent Grenita Lathan.

Lathan and her people are out of bounds here.

When it comes to supporting coaches, teachers and principals on issues involving discipline, her reputation is not good. The belief runs throughout the district that her unspoken message to students is they won’t be held accountable for their actions, whether it’s misconduct in the classroom or failing to comply with board policy. This hair incident doesn’t do anything to counter that perception, nor the one that 

she believes rules and procedures don’t apply to her.

Lathan is superintendent, but she’s not queen.

The policy that allows the coaches to impose team rules and, yes, regulate the appearance of their players was approved by the school board and last revised in July 2011. If Lathan wanted to amend it — perhaps, declare that participation in school athletics is a Constitutional right for every student — fine. 

Take it to the board, which employs her... and win the vote.

She hasn’t done that.

Instead, her office issued a mandate and sends out spokesman Chris Coplan to try to explain to the public.

“The district,” Coplan told the Journal Star’s Adams, “does not have a policy specific to hair styles, and team decisions should not be made that do not follow district-wide policies.”

Huh?

Whose idea was it to change The District grading system?

Last week this blog posted on changes to The District's grading system being blocked by the IHSA.

As previously posted, changing The District's grading system has been proven to not be conducive to students who are seeking to go to college. Additionally, it has proven to not be conducive to student athletes. So, why was the change made? More importantly, why was the change allowed to be made without knowing how it would affect students? 

Today, we learn that apparently some blame falls on principals, counselors and athletic directors for the change being made, because "they didn't mention concerns." If they had mentioned concerns, would anybody have listened? They certainly didn't listen to parents when they showed up to voice their concerns.

IHSA rules compel District 150 to reverse grading policy

School District 150 is going back to semester-long courses, with semester grades and credits, for all high school classes, reversing a policy of yearlong courses and credits that went into effect this year.

Though several parents protested yearlong courses, saying it could jeopardize some seniors' chances for college admissions and scholarships, the district's reversal came about because of athletic eligibility rules.

"Essentially, it's being done to be compliant with IHSA," said District 150 spokesman Chris Coplan.

Kim Hudson, mother of a Peoria High School senior who ran into problems applying for colleges and scholarships because of the yearlong policy, still is frustrated with the district, but she's ready to move on.

"To me, it makes it look like they consider what happens to athletes more important than what happens to the average student," Hudson said. "But I'm not ready to fight that battle."

 "...neither principals, counselors nor athletic directors mentioned concerns about the yearlong policy

when it was first discussed in the spring." Coplan

"It didn't come up until we started moving forward with the policy," he said.

Concerns about how yearlong courses would affect athletic eligibility - for instance, if a high school junior failed a yearlong course would he be ineligible for a year - came up about the same time parents started expressing concerns about college admissions, Coplan said.

After contacting the IHSA, the district chose to return to allowing students to accumulate credits at the end of a semester rather than the end of the school year.

Hudson and Paris McConnell, another parent of a Peoria High student, said they wish the district had gotten more input from parents before switching to yearlong courses.

Most colleges make admissions decisions based on a student's showing in the junior year of high school. In some cases, admissions officers want to see a high school senior's grades for the first semester, which can't happen with yearlong courses.

Hudson said at least one college placed her daughter's application on hold until she submitted first semester grades. Another said her chances of receiving a scholarship would be diminished. Source