Over at Knight’s site, there was a discussion about schools last week. They’re also talking about it as it relates to sports over the Journal Star sports message boards.
I wrote a long response over at Knight’s place, I wanted to put it over here as well. If you check the link to the PJS board, you’ll see there ar
Billy, if the reports are true that Manual is down to around 500 students and numbers are falling every year, I’d say it’s time to close a high school and save the taxpayers some money (I thought you were all about that, btw, but maybe I missed something).
Not that I’m suggesting closing Manual. Rather, I’d take a very simple approach: Oldest building goes away. Don’t want to lose the “history†of Peoria Central High School? Than attach that name to one of the other schools and drop either Manual, Richwoods or Woodruff.
I know these aren’t pleasant decisions for any city to make, but sometimes they’re simply necessary.
500 students puts Manual down to about the size of a 3A school in football. I’m looking at the IHSA rankings right now, and I see Aledo at 477 enrollment, Hall (Spring Valley) at 465, Monmouth-Roseville at 505. Manual is listed at 635. If it’s truly down around 500, than should a Peoria high school be the same size as the one in Aledo? Or Spring Valley? Macomb, btw, is the closest in size to Manual, at 625. Dunlap…â€little†(in everyone’s minds) Dunlap is at 886.
It’s time to close one of the Peoria schools and go with three public schools that will size up accordingly. And oh, by the way, what’s the deal with Richwoods being at 1351, Central at 989, and Woodruff at 895, while Manual is so small? When you add the four together, that total number is 3873. Now, where I’m from…and everywhere else I’ve lived, that would mean if you had four high schools in the same district, they’d all have around 970 students, dispersed equally. If you had three schools, you’re looking at an average size of 1291 – which is smaller than what Richwoods shows today. What’s the deal with that? Not very fair, I’d say.
I say close Central (oldest building, right?) and move 600 of those kids to Manual and the other 390 to Woodruff. I’m of the understanding those buildings are more than large enough to handle that load.
I’ve seen it done (downsizing) in Bloomington, Edina, and Mankato, Minnesota without too much problems, and I’ve seen it done in Waterloo, IA, where they kept the oldest building (East) and the youngest building (West), but eliminated the middle-aged one (Central) because it wasn’t built large enough, and they turned it into a junior high, saving the taxpayers from having to construct an all-new junior high when the time came. I think they even let Central sit empty for awhile before they did that.
Just my .02.
3 responses so far ↓
1
Brad Carter
// Oct 22, 2007 at 8:05 pm
D150 had a great opportunity to close one school earlier this year, but again they failed (refused?) to see the it when it was before their eyes. Instead of spending several million on the new Harrison school just a few blocks away, the district could have converted Manual into this new school and disperse the high school students between the other high schools in the city. But no, they decided again to over pay for land (this time from PeoriHousing Authority) and use the new non-taxpayer approved PBC taxing authority.
Now there is a similar opportunity. The district is looking to build a K-8 school in the Woodruff area. The same thing applies here, but this time with Woodruff. And there would be enough room left over to use as the alternative school instead of spending $1.8 million on the “free” Social Security building.
I talked with the school board president last week about these opportunities, and he responded “if you think there is a lot of flack now over closing the primary schools, it would be way worse if we tried to close any one of the high schools”. So instead the district doesn’t even explore the most fiscally responsible avenues and overspends taxpayer money like it was an bottomless well.
2
bjstone
// Oct 22, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Sounds like they don’t have the best interests of the taxpayers in mind, doesn’t it Brad?
I remember the idea with Manual, and there’s also been talk about the Woodruff area. But again…why has there been NO public discussion on ridding themselves of a century-old building? That really seems to be something that should at least be brought up, no?
3
jadedgirl
// Dec 3, 2007 at 9:43 am
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I went to Peoria High School, and you simply cannot replace the schools rich tradition and landmark status. Yes…it IS the oldest building in dist 150, in fact…it is one of the oldest public high schools in the nation, but it is well maintained, clean, and does not appear by looking to be the oldest-in any way.
Have you toured Woodruff lately? Um…for lack of a better term…it’s gross. Dirty, not well maintained, and seriosuly crumbling. The auditorium is still sporting un-cushioned chairs from the 50’s. And the cafeteria is just appauling.
Serioulsy, shutting down Peoria High because Dist 150 can’t seem to manage their money is not the answer. That should be the LAST school to close…even after Richwoods.
It is too important to Peoria’s history, and it’s logical for the reason that it is the most “central” school in the city in location…hence the nickname “Central”
Yes…I am biased, being alumni. Yes…I would be VERY upset if they closed Peoria High school. But really, there are other alternatives. Manual or Woodruff first should be considered due to lack of enrollment, and lack of upkeep.
Plus…Peoria High houses the academy of the arts, which would defintely go to the wayside completely if they closed Peoria High…and the community needs this-desperately. Maybe from a money point of view you wouldn’t see it that way, but from a cultural standpoint…trust me, it is needed. Arts/music education is known to improve standardized test scores, which brings more money our way…killing that curriculum would be even more detrimental to the district.
I could go on and on here…but the general jist is…you are definitely barking up the wrong tree with that “century old building” being closed in favor of dilapidated Woodruff, or low enrollment Manual.
KEEP CENTRAL OPEN!
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