PeoriaStory

Verbal duel at the board meeting

PEORIA, IL -- The Peoria School District 150 Board's public comment session at its November 25 meeting turned into a verbal duel as board members responded to activist Terry Knapp's comments.

Knapp began by noting that Woodruff High School was closed by a 4-3 board vote, including some votes from board members who had vowed not to close the school.  The closure resulted in "cheating the northside kids out of high school," he said.

Knapp previously has attributed the closure to a desire by a Peoria retired CEO to open a charter school, which became Quest.  The board at the last meeting on Nov. 11 approved funding for Quest for two more years, despite a devastating report on its many failures over its previous 10 years, including some that violated Illinois education laws.

Board members voting to continue Quest funding said they felt the school should continue, despite its failures. Feelings over the facts? Where else are we seeing that? 

At the Nov. 11 meeting board member Martha Ross said "I question the data. It's incorrect.  We can spin it any way we want."  She voted to extend the money to Quest. 

At the Nov. 25 meeting Knapp offered two sayings: "There's a sucker born every second" and "a fool and his money are soon parted."  Then he attacked Lynne Costic, who recently returned to the board to replace "Dr. B." and said "Dr. B. would have voted against Quest."  

Knapp noted that no one from Quest was in the audience, and said "in two years they will be back for more."   

When it came time for board members to respond, Costic and Ross had plenty to say to Knapp, prompting a heated back and forth that lasted a few minutes. "You don't have the right to degrade me," Costic said. "I don't appreciate being called a fool or a sucker."

Knapp responded back to them from the audience.

Here is a recording of the session:

Download D150 Nov 25

 -- Elaine Hopkins

 

Verbal duel at the board meeting

PEORIA, IL -- The Peoria School District 150 Board's public comment session at its November 25 meeting turned into a verbal duel as board members responded to activist Terry Knapp's comments.

Knapp began by noting that Woodruff High School was closed by a 4-3 board vote, including some votes from board members who had vowed not to close the school.  The closure resulted in "cheating the northside kids out of high school," he said.

Knapp previously has attributed the closure to a desire by a Peoria retired CEO to open a charter school, which became Quest.  The board at the last meeting on Nov. 11 approved funding for Quest for two more years, despite a devastating report on its many failures over its previous 10 years, including some that violated Illinois education laws.

Board members voting to continue Quest funding said they felt the school should continue, despite its failures. Feelings over the facts? Where else are we seeing that? 

At the Nov. 11 meeting board member Martha Ross said "I question the data. It's incorrect.  We can spin it any way we want."  She voted to extend the money to Quest. 

At the Nov. 25 meeting Knapp offered two sayings: "There's a sucker born every second" and "a fool and his money are soon parted."  Then he attacked Lynn Costic, who recently returned to the board to replace "Dr. B." and said "Dr. B. would have voted against Quest."  

Knapp noted that no one from Quest was in the audience, and said "in two years they will be back for more."   

When it came time for board members to respond, Costic and Ross had plenty to say to Knapp, prompting a heated back and forth that lasted a few minutes. "You don't have the right to degrade me," Costic said. "I don't appreciate being called a fool or a sucker."

Knapp responded back to them from the audience.

A recording of the session will be posted here soon.

 -- Elaine Hopkins

 

Fabulous choral concert

PEORIA, IL -- Once again, Peoria musicians have proved that music is the strongest art form in the area.  On Sunday, Nov. 24, the Bradley University Community Chorus and Symphony Orchestra presented a fabulous 21st century oratorio, Jubilate Deo! by Dan Forrest, a 41 year old composer.

The venue, St. Mary's Cathedral, has great music acoustics, and was packed with audience members despite little publicity about the event. And they were in for an unusual treat.

Jubilate Deo! is a work in seven movements -- in a different languages with lively classical music to match. The lyrics are in Latin, Arabic, Hebrew, Mandarin Chinese, Zulu, and Spanish.  All are passages from the Christian Bible, in the tradition of works by Bach, Mozart, Handle and others.

But the music of the various languages reflect their culture. The Middle Eastern and African sections were the most original and exciting, but all were lovely.

The lyrics speak of optimism -- "sing for joy, dance in gladness," for example. (The program provided helpful translations.)  That optimism is difficult to feel just now with the Earth endangered by war, climate change and terrible politics in many nations.  But the music was wonderful. 

Mastering this piece must have presented a huge challenge for the singers and players, and they performed flawlessly.

  -- Elaine Hopkins

Talk to the EPA

PEORIA, IL -- Here's a worthwhile event: