Peoria District 150 State Of The school Address by the Supt. in 2016.

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Peoria Public Schools
State of the Schools Address
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Peoria Civic Center 7:30
Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat, Ed.D
Superintendent
ALIGNING PEORIA
(On our pathway to 2020)
Thank you, Brent, for the warm and inviting welcome. We appreciate Commerce Bank for making
this event happen. We respect the leadership of individuals like Brent Eichelberger, President of
Commerce Bank and others that represent the Chamber’s 950 member businesses. Truly, I
would like to thank the Chamber of Commerce for its ongoing support of Peoria Public Schools.
Thanks to Jeff Griffin, President and CEO of the Chamber and of the CEO Council and Tom
Hammerton, chairman of the Chamber’s board for their deep passion to making a difference in
our community. The Chamber has always been receptive to collaborating with our District,
whether it was developing our Adopt-A-School Program many years ago; to helping launch our
Reading Buddies program in 2011 and more recently, joining us along with many others to startup
the Peoria Pathways to Prosperity and the Alignment Peoria initiatives. Thank you.
As I begin, I would also like to recognize - The Peoria Public Schools Board of Education.
 As I call your name please stand and be recognized. Please hold your applause until the
end. Martha Ross, our Board President, is in her 15th year on the board.
 Rick Cloyd, our Board Vice President, is in his fifth and final year on the board.
 Debbie Wolfmeyer is in her 10th year and final year)
 Lynne Costic (is in her 5th year)
 Ernestine Jackson (1st year)
 and Dan Adler (1st year) (who unfortunately is out of town on business today.)
A round of applause.
Our board members are valuable volunteers. Many people still believe they are being paid a
stipend or a salary. They are not. They do play an important role in the success of “Public
Education” in our community. I would like to thank them for their wisdom and passion while
ensuring an educational experience that will result in students who are well qualified for college
and the workforce.
Turning the corner to greatness and high performance in our district requires a dedicated,
passionate and selfless team. Effective leadership is ever so critical in significantly improving
student achievement. We need leaders who believe that all children can learn with the right

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supports and resources. Leaders who know thy impact and leaders who are willing to do things
differently in order to realize different results. We need leaders who believe we can defy the
odds. Because, we can defy the odds!
 Cabinet – I appreciate you every day. You are serious about your work; you are collegial
and creative. I admire those qualities.
 Mr. Chris Coplan – The PPS PR and Community Engagement Director – He is just one of
kind. Talented, impressive work ethic and is patient. Thank you.
 Principals – You are it! You are the conductors, the facilitators, the inspiration, the leaders
and the ones who make it all happen.
 Kudos to Mr. Elliott, Principal of PHS and Mr. Turner, Principal of Kellar Primary, they were
both recently selected as high school principal of the year and elementary Principal of the
year, respectively, by Illinois Principal Association. Let’s give them a round of applause.
 A special thank you to Mr. Henry Vicary, Director of Community Relations and Guest
Services at Caterpillar, Inc. He was one of the first individuals who connected with me in
July. We have been talking regularly ever. We are working on two six sigma projects and
Caterpillar has adopted the Manufacturing Pathway at Manual Academy.
I would also like to recognize some colleagues that I believe are in attendance:
 Dr. Nichole Wood, Executive Director of Quest Charter Academy and former Principal of
Northmoor Primary School
 Mrs. Dawn Bozeman, the chair of the school board in Dunlap and Dr. Lisa Parker,
Superintendent of Dunlap Schools
 Beth Derry, Peoria County Regional Superintendent
 Cindy Morris, President of the Peoria Public Schools Foundation
 Interim President Bruce Budde, Dr. Rita Ali and the team from Illinois Central College
Thanks to each of you for attending today.
I also want to acknowledge that the 2016 teacher of the year for the State of Illinois is one of our
very own -- Kim Thomas, a math teacher at Woodruff Career & Technical Center. She is amazing
and this is an outstanding honor for our District and our City. Kim is not with us today, as she is
with the President in Washington D.C along with other teacher of the year winners from other
states.
Peoria Public Schools teachers and staff are doing amazing work for children every day. Our
school district is a unique learning educational agency with great potential and its eclectic array
of characteristics.
This school year, we are serving 13,145 students representing differences in ethnicity, economic
status, languages, needs and learning styles. We have a budget of 187 million dollars and 2,749
employees.

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This morning, you got to meet some of our students. Let me say a special thank you to all of our
students who participated and staff who helped with today's event. A special big thank you to Mr.
Coplan and Mrs. Jenkins.
I do want to put in a plug for an event that will be held tonight. From 5 until 7, I encourage you to
stop by Woodruff for the World of Woodruff event, showcasing Career and Technical Education
programs and more. Also, every Thursday, you will find the best and cheapest lunch in town and
can get your hair or nails done all in one stop, as our students get more hands-on experience.
At least 44 different native languages are represented in our district. One of our biggest strengths
is our diversity and our eagerness to celebrate ALL students.
Recently, Charter Oak Primary School observed its designation as an International
Baccalaureate Primary School with a beautiful celebration reflecting the extraordinarily diverse
countries of students and families -- Cameroon, Egypt, Jordon, Ukraine, India, Sri Lanka, Mexico,
Burma, Jamaica, Korea and Iran.
Charter Oak is just one of our five authorized International Baccalaureate Programmes in our
District, representing Primary, Middle and High. While the Primary and Middle Years Programmes
are school-wide programs focused on the development of the whole child as an inquirer, both
within and beyond the classroom, the high school Diploma Programme aims to develop students
who have excellent breadth and depth of knowledge – students who flourish physically,
intellectually, emotionally and ethically. While the high Diploma Programme is a highly intensive
and challenging curriculum for a select group of students, the payoff can be huge. We have two
examples:
Our IB and AP students are taking their end of year IB exams as we speak. We have successful
graduates like Adriana Kemper, Richwoods High Schools class of 2014, who is currently
attending DePaul University, and Mahliyah Adkins-Threats, Richwoods High School class of
2013, now a student at Truman State University. Both young ladies were recognized at their
universities by skipping half or more their freshman year of college. Adriana is majoring in
Environmental Studies with a concentration in Sustainability and minor in Economics. DePaul
awarded Adriana 28 of her 32 freshmen credits based on her I-B test credits, just one class away
from starting her sophomore year. As she finishes her second year at DePaul, Adriana is starting
her graduate courses for a Masters of Sustainable Management next school year and will
graduate with her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in four years or less.
Mahliyah Adkins-Threats skipped a semester thanks to the I-B courses she took and the success
she had in her end of course exams in high school. Mahliyah will finish in 3.5 years instead of 4,
this, of course, equates to thousands of dollars in savings for her and her family - thanks to the
IB credits Truman State accepted from Richwoods. Mahliyah will graduate this coming December
and will then be working towards her master's and then doctorate in biology.
Another example of how we recognize and celebrate our diversity, a group of 5th grade students
at Mark Bills Middle School, has recently received national media attention for forming a

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lunchtime sign language club. The effort was developed to facilitate better communication with a
classmate, who has cochlear implants. You might have seen their story or picture on WMBD 31,
the Today Show’s website, the Huffington Post and just this week in Oprah’s Magazine.
As we approach the end of the 2015-2016 school year and my first year as Superintendent, it is so
nice to see each and every one of you here today.
I appreciate your attendance.
You may have noticed that I am using the phrase Peoria Public Schools instead of District 150
or D150 and that is with intentionality. An important part of our rebranding is to move away from
saying District 150 to using the phrase Peoria Public Schools, instead. We feel like an orphan
when referred to as a number. We are your Peoria Public Schools. The school district is an
integral part of our city and our region. Please help me in spreading the word around by saying
Peoria Public Schools or PPS instead of D-150.
For nine months, I have been thinking of our journey and destination. This I know for sure: We
have bright students who are talented in a variety of intelligences and a great staff. We have an
even brighter future ahead of us; especially, when we all commit to giving everything we have for
the success of our student’s future, our city’s future…our future.
When it comes to the performance of Peoria Public Schools…we know where we have been!
All one has to do is to google Illinois school report card and type in Peoria School District, 150. The
truth is there are 27 school buildings and, academically, some buildings are faring better than others.
Consequently, I along with many, realize the amazing potential in our district and as a result, we are
all expecting more!
I am deeply humbled to stand before you to share our path to becoming a high performing district.
I am a servant leader for Peoria Public Schools.
I am going to say this out loud ……….
We cannot continue/ to be referred to as a school district /consistently ranked among the state’s
bottom 5 percent/ in academic achievement.
As a district, we must be relentless when it comes to success for each and every child enrolled
in Peoria Public Schools. But, I also know that my team and I cannot do it alone.
There is a need for unprecedented and ongoing collaboration of efforts within our community.
As we focus on taking PPS to the next level, we have to strive to improve our current reality and
the wicked problems affecting our city together.
I am thankful and appreciative for our many hardworking community’s leaders. I’m especially
pleased to work with our Mayor, Mr. Jim Ardis and his team. We will continue to have monthly

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conversations. We must continue to communicate and problem solve for our children and City,
like family, no matter what happens with the politics.
Additionally, in the last four months, our Board of Education has held joint meetings with the
Peoria City Council, the Peoria Public Library Board and the Peoria Park District Board.
So as we trek on to 2020 and beyond, we have to acknowledge our challenges.
Here are what I believe are our top three wicked problems that we face as we all work together
to augment lives possibilities for all of our children.
Wicked Problem #1 has to do with poverty, housing patterns, violence, hunger, and education.
According to the proximityone website when it comes to ranking households by zip codes, the
good news for our county is that Dunlap, 61525 has a Median Household Income of $103,244
placing it in the top 3% nationally. On the other hand, the Median Household Income in the City
of Peoria, 61605 is $19,442 ranking it at the bottom 5% nationally and in the bottom 2% in Illinois.
We know that our district’s ratings, including our academic achievement levels, are a significant
concern. Thus no one is pleased when the State Report Card shows our district’s graduation rate
in 2015 is at 65%.
Additionally, 65% of our students in our district are eligible for free and reduced lunch. And our
student achievement levels in 2015, according to our State’s Assessment (PARCC), show that
26% of students are ready for college.
Another layer has to do with the most recent assessment findings by the National Resource
Network, which also reports that the City of Peoria is slowly increasing its population through
annexation of outlying areas in unincorporated Peoria County, and is able to maintain its economy
through retention of key industrial anchor institutions. However, preparing Peoria for renewed
vibrant economic and population growth requires stabilizing the city’s urban core by
comprehensively addressing the poverty challenges and lack of opportunity in the some
neighborhoods, according to the report.
Between 2000 and 2010, Peoria grew by 2 percent, while the population of these northern
suburban areas increased by more than 50 percent.
For example, the social fabric of the Southside Community, where are number of our schools are
located, has deteriorated, and remaining residents express feelings of geographic and social
isolation from the employment and retail districts of Peoria. Once the center of Peoria’s working
class, the Southside for example has lost more than 40 percent of its residents since 1970, and
the decline does not appear to have stopped.
I meet with Officer Carl Cannon, every Tuesday at 7 am to hear about the progress regarding the
external nurturing supports his Elite Program provides to the two schools, Harrison and Lincoln.
He is a staunch supporter of the greater good by providing opportunities and inspiration to
struggling students and their families. This year, Carl Cannon and his team are working with the
principals to pilot the school within a school concept. Home visits are a big part of his ELITE
program. At our meeting yesterday, he shared with me a recent visit he made to a family with
children in our schools and found out that there was no running water in the household for about

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two years. These children like the other 31 million American children grow up in families that lack
the income to cover basic needs like rent, food and transportation.
Wicked Problem #1 impacts our families significantly. Children who live in poverty are three times
more likely to fail to graduate from high school.
Wicked Problem #2
The mental health of our students and families in Peoria is wicked problem #2. Tightly woven to
wicked problem #1.
Some of our children are dealing with situations that many of us as adults don’t experience such as
poverty, violence and crime. The 2015 Peoria County Community Health Indicator Report shows that
Peoria County’s suicide rate is more than double the State’s rate. We also know our district has been
identified as one of fifteen priority districts in Illinois due to our high rates of teen births and sexually
transmitted infections.
Research shows that in order to increase academic success you have to lower the stress-levels
of students as they strive towards being successful.
The truth is that many of students want to learn…but they can’t learn when they are dealing with
trauma, mental health issues and other circumstances out of their control.
Wicked Problem #3
Peoria Public Schools financial story is also a wicked problem that must be addressed as we
strive to become a higher performing district.
One of my top priorities has been to focus on reducing our budget to align our steady expenditures
with our declining revenues; During my first few months, I was able to jump in on the tail end of
the budget planning process, provide some input and was pleased with the work our team did in
reducing expenditures and closing the budget gap. With the approval of our F-Y-17 budget, our
annual operating deficit dropped approximately $4.4 million dollar. We cut the deficit in our largest
operating fund, the Education Fund, by $6 million. That is a lot of progress, but still leaves us with
a deficit that we must tackle as soon as possible. There is such difficulty because more than
81% of our Education Fund expenditure is salaries and benefits for our staff.
I think it’s important that everyone in this room understand the dire circumstances our district is
facing with our reliance on and continued disappointment in State funding. For the past five years
Illinois has paid school districts just a portion of the general education funds they are owed, which
is the equivalent of a backdoor budget cut that has cost the poorest school districts hundreds of
millions of dollars. The state cuts every district by the same percentage, regardless of the
availability of local resources to make up the difference. This ends up hitting poorer schools
districts that rely more heavily on state aid the hardest. Peoria Public Schools is one of those
Districts. From F-Y-12 to F-Y-16, Peoria Public Schools lost more than $21 million due to
proration in General State Aid.
Many other Districts across Illinois are experiencing the same hardships, including rural, urban,
and suburban districts, such as Dunlap.

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We must address what is the root of inequity for poor children across the state and that’s
inequitable education funding formula. I’ve been willing to listen and even support Governor
Rauner’s plan to restore education funding in Illinois to 100%. Last month, the Governor released
projections per district, and not only did it highlight Peoria as a loser of additional State funds (the
opposite of what was promised), but spotlighted the inequities of the funding formula throughout
the State.
Illinois has the most unfair school funding system of any state in the entire nation. Research
shows that students living in poverty need additional resources in order to succeed. But, instead
of giving them those resources, the state shortchanges students with the most need. We know
all too well that when we take dollars out of public education we end up investing in prisons on
the back end.
Solution – My recommendation is to use the alignment Initiative to build up the district via
the strategic plan.
To overcome these three wicked problems, we must all work in tandem to devise solutions! Doing
things like we have never done before like aligning our efforts and resources and not letting the
egos get in the way. A collective impact will bring about a lasting, positive change and I believe it
will allow us to go further as a community.
Alignment Peoria will assist in making a difference for our community.
Last year, I took a trip to Rockford with a small group from Peoria to learn more about the
Alignment Model that officials there were giving credit for the schools’ and city’s turnaround.
We now have Alignment staff from Rockford and Nashville who are working with our community
until the end of this to further explore the possibilities. I want to thank the steering committee:
Tom Fleige, Mayor Jim Ardis, Peoria County Regional Superintendent Beth Derry, Peoria
Economic Development Council President Jennifer Daly, Peoria Chamber President Jeff Griffin,
Michael Stephan of United Way and OSF Vice-President Tom Hammerton for their leadership in
exploring the possibilities.
Structure is an important part of the Alignment Model. The organizational chart consists of a
governing board, an operational board and 3-4 teams.
On April 21 and 22nd Alignment Peoria meetings were held to gauge further interest. 31 leaders
attended the first governing board meeting and 34 leaders attended the operational board
meeting on the 22nd.
Again, the ultimate purpose of Alignment Peoria is to support Peoria Public Schools and its
strategic plan.
I would like to share a little bit about our strategic plan.
Our strategic planning process began in November 2014 as the Board of Education began
looking at options to build a new roadmap for the District. The Peoria Public School Strategic
Plan for 2015-2020 is the result of months of work by our community, parents, students, staff and

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the Board of Education. The board members and the community provided the big ideas derived
from the strategic planning forums.
The principals, District’s Universal Leadership Team along with our partners, Susan, Sandy, and
Roxanne from the Center for School Improvement met and collapsed the nine big areas to five
pillars, and began to build our targets, actions and metrics.
The Board adopted the five year strategic plan in January. With the adoption of the new plan, we
are guided by Five Pillars.
Pillar 1: High Standards, Rigorous College and Career Curricula, and Engaged and
Relevant Experiences
I told you about the success stories of Adriana and Maliya, I am even more excited for the number
of other opportunities we offer to our students, in addition to IB.
While not all students are ready to commit to the demand of an IB Diploma Programme, more of
our students are taking advantage of Advanced Placement courses that also connect them with
high standard, rigorous courses that can earn them college credit.
Ms. Johnson, the Academic Instructional Officer of the high school updated those numbers for
me yesterday.
 94 students are in the IB program (this are juniors and seniors)
 We are offering 15 Advanced Placement Courses in our District Currently. Break down is
below:
 Manual: 4 Courses
 Peoria High: 8 Courses
 Richwoods: 14 Courses
o We have a total of 680 students registered in those classes with the breakdown
below:
 Manual: 77 students
 Peoria High: 199 students
 Richwoods: 404 students
As we work to prepare our students to be college and career ready, I do want to welcome my
colleagues.
A warm welcome and congratulations to Dr. Gary Roberts, new President of Bradley University
and Dr. Sheila Quirk-Bailey, President of Illinois Central College. I am excited to work with my
fellow Bradley alumni.
I am intrigued with Dr. Quirk-Bailey’s experience in developing partnerships with school districts
and her passion for student success. Dr. Quirk-Bailey, I am particularly interested in your work
that led to increases in the number of high school students entering Harper College prepared for

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college-level math and, subsequently, increasing Harper’s graduation rate. I am also interested
in your efforts around free college tuition for high school students. I am looking forward to meeting
after you have officially started in July.
This year we launched the Strong Start program with Illinois Central College (ICC) on a pilot
basis. Strong Start will allow our students to concurrently enroll in our District and at ICC to earn
the appropriate college credit towards an Associate Degree, while at the same time fulfill the
requirements for a high school diploma in our District. Full implementation will in place in the next
school year.
I am excited about our district expansion in this area. Our high school students are guided toward
one of 16 career clusters offering training for 21st century jobs. Our District currently offers 36 of
the 79 nationally recognized pathways and we continue to grow each year. This year, we added
career pathways in transportation, distribution and logistics, and hospitality and tourism.
Next year, the Public Safety Careers program sponsored by the City of Peoria Police and Fire
Departments will be based in our high schools and will provide opportunities for our students to
explore and enter into careers as police officers, firefighters, dispatchers, and public works
personnel. The new police and fire cadet program will mean paid training opportunities which
lead to middle class jobs. A big thank you to the Peoria NAACP, the City of Peoria, and Police
Chief Jerry Mitchell for supporting the Explorer and Cadet programs for our students. In addition,
we also look forward to collaborating with Advanced Medical Transport (AMT) as we expand our
health careers offerings, including Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) and Technician
Programs (EMT).
Peoria Pathways to Prosperity began in June of 2014. It started with a resolution among Peoria
Public Schools, the City of Peoria, CEO Council, Illinois Central College, Peoria Area Chamber
of Commerce, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Peoria Federation of Teachers, and
Focus Forward Central Illinois.
In June, with the support of the Peoria Federation of Teachers and Union President Jeff Adkins-
Dutro, this collaboration was the recipient of a $65,000 grant from the American Federation of
Teachers (AFT) to hire Brent Baker as the full-time coordinator.
Peoria Pathways aims to increase high school and post-secondary education, ultimately leading
to knowledge and skills for gainful employment. As of Friday, 28 companies and organizations in
our communities have signed on, offering 113 activities and 36 career coaches for our students.
The activities range from 20 job shadowing opportunities to possible 14 internships, 11
companies offering service learning opportunities to students and 8 companies offering part-time
or summer employment to our students.
Like Peoria Pathways to Prosperity’s Make Yourself software via the career cruising platform, the
Greater Peoria Works website was also created to connect high school students with local
businesses and employers.

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Pillar 2: Under the Systems of Support
High academic standards and rigorous curricula are of limited value if students are not
emotionally prepared to learn. A major focus for us is acknowledging and addressing the adverse
childhood experiences of trauma. These experiences range from physical, emotional, or sexual
abuse to parental divorce or the incarceration of a parent or guardian. Some students experience
chronic stress and trauma which significantly impacts learning in a negative way. This year, 650
of our students are tagged in our computer system as homeless. Research tells us that trauma
and chronic stress results in physiological changes in the brain, killing neurons, blocking the entry
of information, slowing development and causing behavior problems.
Our newly-established Office of Social Emotional Learning will be a great addition to our
programming.
Derrick Booth, the newly named director of the Social and Emotional Learning office is forming a
team and preparing our district to address the non-academic needs of our students in a more
intentional and deliberate manner.
Pillar 3: Committed and effective leaders, teachers, staff and students
We must also be able to recruit and retain qualified teachers, principals and other staff. That is
why I am proud that our team is NOW attending college education fairs to seek out the best. We
are also working with the Chamber of Commerce to show our top candidates what Peoria has to
offer. On Friday, we have invited approximately 100 new teachers to tour our schools, have lunch
with the Young Professionals Organization and see first-hand what it’s like to “Play in Peoria.”
We just started having conversations with groups like Golden Apple and others who are
interested in working with us to grow our own teachers.
I would be remiss if I did not use this opportunity to ask you to join me acknowledging our teachers
and staff. We are celebrating all Peoria Public Schools staff members today with the help of Heyl
Royster. Following this morning’s event, our board members and administrators will be delivering
a small token of our appreciation to each of our 27 schools. Please help us in saying thank you,
by signing a card at your table with words of encouragement for our staff and we will deliver in a
few hours.
Pillar 4: Engaged families and communities
Under this pillar, we need to continue to expand our parent university sessions, Parents as Leaders
training for families, and ensure that there is an active Parent Teacher Organization at every school
every year. This year, we implemented the districtwide Parent council representing every school. We
will continue to collaborate quarterly.
I am very pleased with our new and or expanded community collaborations.
Here are few:
I am thrilled that with the help of the Peoria Public Schools Foundation and the Junior League of
Peoria. Sarah Oakford joined the Foundation to coordinate the expansion of our Adopt-A-School

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program, giving businesses and community organizations another avenue to help our schools,
whether it is through volunteer efforts, financial resources or in-kind donations. Sarah has business
cards at each table and I hope you will reach out to her so she can connect your business with one or
more of our schools.
We are exciting about expanding our collaboration with PCCEO Headstart and Early Headstart to
serve more children. Kudos and thank you to McFarland Bragg for his leadership in this area.
Research proves that having students in school every day from kindergarten on, keeps them learning
at grade level until graduation. Our District’s attendance rate last year was 92%...meaning each day,
nearly 11-hundred students are not in school in our City. I have asked Regional Superintendent Beth
Derry, and retired district administrators Dr. Thom Simpson and Mrs. Cheryl Sanfilip to generously
give their time to devise new solutions to the school attendance issue by leading a large group of
district staff and community members. Our goal next school year is 95% attendance District-wide.
ALL schools will be ready to kick-off their attendance plans on the first day of school!
In February, the Peoria Public Schools made a public appeal, through media, social media and
our website, for Reading Buddies to spend a few hours each month reading one-on-one with third
grade students. Over 100 new volunteers responded. We now have Reading Buddies for every
third grade classroom.
Speaking of supporting our students in reading, this past weekend, I had the opportunity to speak
the Look. It’s My Book gala. Last month, they celebrated giving away close to 200,000th books.
Starting with just one school, Look. It’s My Book! now gives books to every Peoria Public School
kindergarten through 4th grade six times each year. As you know, developing a love of reading
in children is a game-changer. A love of reading and access to books provides hope for a child
despite – poverty, family or neighborhood instability.
Special thanks to President Janet Roth and PR director Norma Rossi and their long line of
volunteers!
The efforts to revitalize the Peoria Public Schools Fine Arts programming has been particularly
exciting to many in our community. As part of the reconfiguration, Roosevelt which is a K-8
building regains magnet-school status for grades 5 – 8. In preparation, this year, every fourth-
grade student in the district was offered the chance to audition to attend Roosevelt next year.
Similarly, our eighth grade students were offered the chance to audition for the Preparatory
School for the Arts at Peoria High School, to follow a program in band, orchestra, dance, drama,
choir or visual arts.
Through the Barry Manilow Music Project instrument donation drive and with the help of the
Peoria Civic Center Box Office and Kidder Music, our schools gained more than 100 musical
instruments.
On August 12th – 14th, more than 200 Peoria Public School 4th through 9th grade students will
perform Disney’s Lion King Jr. on the same stage -- here in the Peoria Civic Center. What an
incredible opportunity for our students, many who may have never stepped foot in the incredible
facility, let along gotten the chance to perform in the professional space.
By the time our students perform in the Lion King Jr., they will have experienced eight weeks of
daily workshops teaching hands-on performance and technical aspects of musical theatre.

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They will receive two free meals each day as part of the program. They will learn, from Pam
Orear, one of Peoria’s preeminent community theatre leaders and a crew of volunteer college
interns, teamwork and discipline.
Pillar 5: Financial Stewardship and Operational Excellence
The grade-level reconfiguration plan, to be instituted for the 2016-2017 year, is a good example.
Reconfiguration eliminates the staggered distribution of grade levels among our buildings. The
plan makes more efficient use of our physical facilities and financial resources and provides a
better environment for teaching and learning.
Scorecard
In addition to the pillars that support our work in the Strategic Plan, our plan also includes a
scorecard. The scorecard is developed each year with 2015-2016 serving as our baseline. We
want to use this tool to report to our community the key measures for our plan. In addition to our
District’s scorecard, each school will also report their measurements via a school scorecard.
The scorecard will be available on our District website, along with a dashboard.
I hope you are able to take something away today. We have done a lot. I would like to ask the
staff to staff and be recognized. This is intense and difficult work. It is not a job but a labor of
love.
I have highlighted in my State of our Schools address our challenges and wicked problems and
their ramifications. I have also provided a plan for hope around the implementation of the
strategic plan and the Alignment Peoria Initiative.
So what can you do?
o As we forge ahead to higher heights, we are looking for businesses and or individuals to
help make it happen. Together, we are looking at a minimum of a three-year, annual
commitment in the amount of $150,000 to pick up expenses for implementation of the
alignment efforts. My first ask would be to support this process financially. There are
cards at your table for you to submit your information, questions or comments. I will
follow up.
o If you haven’t already, contact Brent Baker to involve your business in our Pathways to
Prosperity work. Brent’s contact information is also on your table. We need you, our kids
need you, to join them as they work toward graduation. Opportunities for summer work,
internships and apprenticeships are possibilities.
o My third and final call to action is for you to get involved. Whether it is supporting our
students as they learn to read by sending 3rd Grade Reading Buddy teams from your
business, or adopting one or more schools as an official Adopt-A-School partner.

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Schools alone, as currently conceived, are insufficient to do the job of educating all students for
success. AS we proceed to 2020 and beyond let’s align our efforts and resources in a
comprehensive manner to take our school district and our city further.
Thank you!