Peoria City Council At-Large Election Quiz #3:
What is your position on the Glen Oak School controversy?
Brad Carter: The school needs to stay where it is at. First, this is the will of the residents in Glen Oak School boundary. Second, how many more empty buildings do we need in our neighborhoods? An empty school building is a blight to the neighborhood and a place for criminal activity to occur. I believe schools such a Glen Oak are key neighborhood infrastructure components and are vital to neighborhood stabilization.
Donald Cummings: The Glen Oak School should have been rebuilt at it’s present location and the School Board has shown that they are not willing to partner or listen to anyone who does not share their views even to their own financial demise.
Dan Irving: I personally feel the Glen Oak school issue could have been better communicated to the taxpayers of the school district. Whenever changes are being made with a body of government funded by taxpayers, it is the responsibility of the body to over communicate to the citizens in order to get their message out, receive input from the public and then move forward based on the input received.
George Jacob: A lot of the controversy regarding the Glen Oak School was due to communication breakdowns. We need to work to improve this process. We have other schools that will be discussed and I remain optimistic that we can work together and be effective. There is nearly universal agreement that the school districts, particularly 150, are a linchpin of the future success of our community.
As we move forward, it is important to recognize that decisions made regarding Schools or other anchors in the community must be made with the understanding that there is real impact to neighborhoods. All stakeholder decisions (eg Schools, PHA, Park District etc) must be considered with the impact to neighborhoods in mind. I understand that many of the stakeholders are separate taxing and governing bodies, and we must certainly respect their independence. However, if we want to best serve the citizens and the taxpayers we must work together to get the best results.
Kelley Mammen: First off the park is for all and I do not want the school built on park property or even near it. I think that has been stopped. I would like to see a comprehensive over view of schools and numbers in classrooms along with projected future enrollments. Without that information I think to tear down GO and build a new school there would be the answer. It was good enough once. That will keep it a neighborhood school and keep from having another empty building. Just down the hill is Woodruff and Lincoln school so to move that way would cause a concentration of schools in one area.
Gary Sandberg: I believe there was not sufficient public debate on the Glen Oak Park location prior to preliminary deals being made. I support expansion at the current location at Frye and Wisconsin.
Chuck Schierer: The Park Board is a separate entity and has voted no on the Glen Oak School. Unless they will reconsider their decision, the issue is over. New schools do not equate to higher test scores. I think we should be spending out time figuring out how to get parents involved in their children’s education.
Ryan Spain: I was disappointed with the handling of the Glen Oak School site discussion and believe that significant damage was done to the relationships between the city council, school board, and park board. However, I do believe in the importance of updating our older schools to create a better educational environment for children in Peoria. This issue must be the focal point of continued discussions regarding the Glen Oak School site.
Gale Thetford: It is my hope that the school district, the city, the neighborhood leaders, and the families who have children attending Glen Oak School can work together to have a new school for the East Bluff. The worst thing that could happen is that there would not be a new primary school in the East Bluff as a result of this controversy.
Eric Turner: I am not on the school board and do not have a vote but in my opinion the Neighbors and people impacted should have had thorough involvement from the beginning via community meetings and forums. You don’t make a decision that major w/o their input.
March 10th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
I support the Glen Oak School being maintained in the same resident space. The move would again provide an area with a lost of it primary resources. It also would increase the school train distance for the children and lower the visitation of the parents/guardian with interaction with school staff and meetings.