PEORIA -- Here's a guest commentary from Sharon Crews, a retired high school teacher who has become an activist in seeking accurate information from Peoria District 150:
Ferreting out the truth in District 150 is and has always been a challenging task. That fact of life has given me so many reasons to FOIA data which I believe should be of interest to every taxpayer in Peoria and West Peoria, every District 150 student and their parents, and even to District 150 Board of Education members.
I recently pursued my desire to find out why overcrowded conditions exist at Whittier Primary School.
When Tyng Primary School was closed as of the 2009-10 school year, the Whittier community, parents, and teachers were told that about 52 Tyng students would be added to Whittier’s enrollment as a stop gap measure until the new Harrison opened. Believing the promise, Whittier teachers and parents made the best of large class sizes and the need to create more classrooms for an overflowing enrollment.
However, after Harrison opened this year, the promise was not kept, so Whittier parents began asking questions. Of course, a new administration came on board and may not have been aware of the promise. That, however, is no excuse. Someone, especially a board member of two, should have remembered the promise. Actually, someone should have put the promise in writing in the form of preplanning and the plan should have been handed to Superintendent Grenita Lathan when she walked in the door.
These are the facts as of January 4, 2011, discovered through FOIA requests. The sizes of Whittier’s classes (KK through 4th) are 29, 28, 28, 27, 26, 26, 25, 25, 25, 25, 24, 24, 24, 24, 24, 23, 22, 22. Harrison’s (KK through 4th) are 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 22, 20, 20, 19, 19, 19, 19, 17, 16. After Whittier parents complained and after about four months into the school year, Whittier’s 78 kindergarteners were divided into four classes instead of the original three.
For kindergarten through 4th grade, Whittier has 130 more students than Harrison has. For these grades, Whittier’s 466 students take up 20 classrooms, and Harrison’s 336 take up 15 classrooms.
In addition, Whittier has 20 preschool students in one classroom and 15 special education students in two classrooms. Harrison has 103 preschool students in five classrooms and 10 special ed students in one classroom. Also, Harrison does have two 5th grades (29, 26) and two 6th grades (17, 17).
Most importantly, Whittier is using 22 classrooms for a total of 486 students. Harrison is using 24 classrooms for a total of 546 students. However, Whittier is using up all of its classrooms, having created three additional classrooms in the last two years. Harrison is using only 24 classrooms of its total of 44 rooms, several of which could easily be converted to classrooms.
Seeking truth about why the promise was not kept and why Harrison classes are so much smaller and with fewer classrooms in use, I presented the above enrollment data at the January 10, 2011, board meeting.
Dr. Lathan responded that Harrison’s smaller class sizes are mandated by a class reduction program at Harrison.
I then wrote a FOIA request asking why Harrison receives the benefit of a class reduction program not enjoyed by Whittier—an inequity that could have been resolved if the promise about the Tyng students had been kept.
Before receiving the response to my FOIA request, I attended a Whittier PTO meeting at which Dr. Lathan was the guest speaker. I asked the question publicly again and stated that the Whittier parents may not have heard about the Harrison grant mentioned at the previous board meeting.
Dr. Lathan corrected my use of the word “grant,” saying it was a Title II program, not a grant. She skirted the real question. Unfortunately, I had used the word “grant” in the FOIA request as well, so the only response to my FOIA questions was a DVD of the board meeting at which the class reduction program was first mentioned—with no specifics.
The February 25, 2011, response to my second FOIA request finally provided the truth. The first part of the truth stated, “Harrison school would be eligible for class size reduction funding, if needed. However, because of the current school district boundaries, Harrison school’s class sizes are currently within an expectable range and have no dedicated funding for class size reductions.”
To my understanding, that statement indicates that since Harrison is definitely not overcrowded, the promise to reassign the Tyng attendance area students should have been kept because Whittier, unlike Harrison, is overcrowded.
The second part of the truth is even more indicting. It states, “As the School District understands your request, the funding years for Title II are 7/1/10-8/31/11 however there is no mandate that require Harrison to have small class sizes.”
Furthermore, the FOIA response goes on to state that there are eight individual classes—not schools-- that do receive the benefit from this class size reduction program. None of those classrooms are at Harrison. Instead these classes are one each at Lincoln, Trewyn, Northmoor, Franklin, Charter Oak, Hines, and two at Woodrow Wilson.
Dr. Lathan has had several public occasions in which to state that she erred in using this Title II program as a reason why Whittier, not Harrison, should be burdened with the increased enrollment. Clearly, the class size reduction program had absolutely no relevance to the discussion as to why District 150 did not keep its promise to Whittier.
As of the March 14, 2011, board meeting, Dr. Lathan has proposed that the Whittier boundaries be redrawn to ease the overcrowded conditions for next year. To her credit, she did listen to the pleas from parents. Perhaps foresight instead of hindsight will begin to be a new modus operandi for District 150.
-- Sharon Crews
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