(upbeat music) - Welcome to At Issue I'm H Wayne Wilson, thank you, as always for joining us on the program.

It's about time for a new school year and it's going to be different than a typical school year.

But it's going to be different from a year ago.

COVID has still required some changes.

We're going to be talking about that and other issues with the Superintendent of Peoria Public Schools, Dr. Sharon Desmoulin Kherat Dr. Kherat, thank you so much for joining us.

- My pleasure.

- And a reminder to our viewers that some of the questions later in the show will be specific to Peoria Public Schools.

But the early part of this program is information that affects all school districts.

So it might be a value to everybody who is watching.

And let me start with some of those questions with regard to what the pandemic has done.

You are going to have in person classes.

What are the requirements in terms of vaccination, in terms of mask extra?

And by the way, these are requirements or guidance from CDC and IDPH and--- - Peoria Board of education, correct.

So we're excited about the kids and staff coming back for the upcoming school year 2021, 2022.

Actually, I don't know, I'm sure you remembered last year during COVID, we had a return to school committee made up of over 100 individuals.

And that sort of set the guidelines for opening for a year.

And so for this year, we have a smaller committee, we've received guidance.

And in a nutshell, it talks about if you're vaccinated you do not need to wear masks and if you're not vaccinated, then you will have to wear a mask.

The interesting thing is, how will all of that, be done?

Are you going to be a vaccination or mask police?

Or are you going to sort of go on the honor system.

So those are some of the things that our committee that small committee of about 25 individuals will be grappling with.

My recommendation is to keep it very, very simple.

We'll still have the mitigation three feet if we can.

And we'll continue the whole idea is in person, do whatever we can to afford an in person experience for children in a safe environment, not only for kids, but for staff as well.

So I feel good about where we are and we will take the guidelines and make it work for us.

- Now the vaccination is for those 12 and older.

- Correct.

- What about students who are younger than 12?

- So students who are younger than 12, for example, pre K and up will have to wear masks for sure because they don't have access to a vaccination yet.

- And that's a challenge for the young, young students who are gonna be wearing a mask for maybe five and a half hours.

- They've done a really nice job.

The nice thing is we've gotten an opportunity to experiment with it.

And we had summer school, we had a robust summer school program for six weeks I saw them in action.

When we first started in March of last year, I saw them in action and the kids, the younger children were just so fantastic.

They were so compliant and it became a habit and part of their routine.

So I don't anticipate too much of a problem with the younger kids.

- Now the Peoria Public Schools did have an opportunity for families that so chose to opt out of in person attendance.

- Yep, so during COVID our online school was the largest school there were over 1600 students enrolled for this new school year that's coming up we had an application process.

And to my surprise, there are about 200 students who have applied and they have been accepted to continue the online education per their choice.

And so that was an interesting surprise to me.

But that tells me that the majority of our families and our kids are looking forward to the in person experience.

- Have you found with the experience of the past year that some of the children are behind, at least in some courses, just because of the nature of that course with regard to online teaching?

- Yeah, we've talked a lot about that as a team.

And although I will say that some students thrive, I would say that there we have also a large segment that struggled, especially in mathematics, and not only Peoria Public Schools but those are the trend trend that I've seen nationally, as well, there's a report that came out from the United States Education Department, and the graph based on the NWEA map scores it mirrored the same thing that we're experienced.

So, it's hard to sort of teach math virtually, right.

And so we're putting in a lot of things in place, like we have the virtual online, so if we have any families out there who are interested in additional tutoring, we've purchased the package from an organization called Varsity Tutors.

And so parents can call our office and we can connect them with that and lots of other supports for students as well.

- It seems to me that a chemistry lab class might be difficult to teach online.

- Correct yes.

- Things of that nature.

What about athletics, any limitations in terms of students participating, not just in athletics, but all extracurricular activities?

- Right, so I would recommend, again, that students who are eligible for that to be vaccinated, the vaccinated because there are lots of benefits.

If there's an outbreak, if they were close contact, they will not have to be quarantined, but for overall for athletics if they're not vaccinated, they must wear a mask And obviously, if they are vaccinated, they do not have to wear a mask.

So there are really lots of benefits, but for the most part, athletics will go on.

So it's just a matter of whether or not you're wearing a mask if you're vaccinated or not, and then the quarantine question as well.

- And having said all this, I wanna remind the audience that this program was taped several days ago, and it is subject to change, depending on the guidance from the organization's already mentioned, and what the situation is here in Peoria.

So we don't wanna hold you to what you said specifically in case those things change.

- Thank you H. - And you mentioned that, you read publications, extra.

But one of the benefits you have is that you're active in an organization called the, let me check, I wanna get the name right, The Urban Superintendents Association of America, and congratulations are in order, because you've just been elected vice president of that organization.

- Thank you.

- What benefit do you reap from... And these are midsize cities, similar problems, I assume?

- Correct, and they're urban cities, and, like Peoria, and so we're able to problem solve, we're able to share strategies.

It's a very good group, strong superintendents.

Many of them have been in positions for many, many years.

So they've sort of taken me under their wing.

And, as you have presented there, as well, I've shared some of they were really interested in the path with work that we're doing Woodrow for example.

And so we'll share best practices and initiatives that are thriving in in our, various cities.

- Wanna talk about the the length of class, extra.

Because classes will be a little bit longer this year.

But you're still going to have three tiers or three start times, which isn't ideal, at least from your perspective.

- Right, so we're excited because last year during COVID our hours were 5.5 hours of instruction for the upcoming school year, it will be 6.5.

We're continuing to so I'm excited that there's an additional hour.

The ultimate goal for me is getting it back to seven hours.

So and then we will have the the three as you reference the three tiered bus schedule, which is another creative way of still getting children to and fro school.

With the limitation of the, bus drivers, so we're about 16 to 22, bus drivers short COVID actually, the transportation department really took a hit during that COVID period, we were not able to advertise, we were not able to recruit, we were not able to train because we do all of our own training, we help them get their CDL.

And DMV, they were closed as well for a certain period of time.

And so it really placed us in a really tough spot.

But nevertheless, am really excited that we do have a strategy to still transport more than 7000 children to and fro with this, the new schedule, the new three tiered schedule.

- And with those three tiers, there's 50 minutes between the start time of high school, middle school and primary school.

- Correct.

- Is 50 minutes, enough time for those bus drivers to turn around and get to the next group of children.

- Normally, we had 60 minutes, right.

So what we ended up doing was stealing 10 minutes from each group so that we can get to dismissal time at the end of the day at 3: 40 instead of 4:00.

So I thought that was brilliant as well.

And yes, I was told by our transportation department that they can do that turn around and get the job done with 50 minutes allocated to them.

- But still short on bus drivers.

- But still short on bus drivers.

And we do have an amazing, robust plan we spent about $45,000 put in a marketing plan together and I'm optimistic that we're going to do some additional things as well.

So once we get back to normal, I mean, after all we're still in a crisis, right?

A global pandemic.

So we're getting back to some sense of normalcy I am optimistic that we'll get there.

- Other changes include curriculum changes, there's two classes of notes (mumbles) State mandated that's the LBGTQ plus curriculum.

Can you just in thumbnail give us an idea of what that entails?

That's not a new class, is it?

- So it is, it's all about inclusivity and, educating everybody in the system about accepting everyone, 'cause we're all unique, and we're all different.

And so it's as you reference it's a mandate.

And I was really excited because when it came down, I'm like, oh, wow another major task, right?

And so what I ended up doing was calling some of our partners at friends, Central Illinois friends, Derek Kilmer and Becker Maphis and Andrew Parker from hold, and they are a strong partner of PPS, Peoria Public Schools.

And Derek is like, hey Doc, don't worry I'm on this curriculum committee in Chicago, it's called Legacy Project.

And, we don't have to purchase any books, we don't have to purchase anything.

It's a portal, it's an additional resource.

And so when teachers are teaching social studies, they can add to it, because the whole idea of this mandate is to also share with everybody the contributions that the LGBT plus committee have made to society.

And so it's just, sharing this person, was part of that community.

And here is their contribution, whether it's musically politics, engineering, mathematics, arts, you name it.

And so it's just, we're known PPS we're known as sort of a progressive district.

And so yeah, it was pretty cool that these two young folks were able to get us through training, they gave board presentations, we've gone through what we call a safe zone training.

And I went through it as well, and we're ready to go.

So it's not extra work.

It's just additional resources that teacher can add to his or her lesson plan.

- So that's in an already established course.

So now, other than a little bit of training with teachers.

But there is a specific course that is new The Black History 365 Class, now that's only at the high school level right now, but will expand.

- The idea is to get it to the middle school as well.

And it is an elective course right now there are over 300 students who have signed up for it.

There was a committee that met for over a month, and actually the district they have been trying for probably over a decade, to incorporate a robust Black History curriculum into the offerings.

And so again, I'm very pleased that students will have that option, because a lot of students have asked for it, a lot of parents have asked for it.

And so the board adopted it's called the BH 365 curriculum, and I've gone through the book I have it, it's pretty good.

And it goes all the way from it doesn't start with slavery it starts with ancient history, and then it goes all the way through reconstruction and Renaissance and you name it and there are opportunities for kids to be independent thinkers, and ultimately to get them to sort of, be their own thinkers and grew up to make a change.

But, looking at what we've experienced, where we've been, right from wrong, and those sorts of things and reflecting and being in a position to really be amazing leaders based on the information so that they can make the community a better place.

- There is one change that could be coming that not everyone is in favor of and that is the balanced calendar.

You do have a balanced calendar and we'll describe that in a moment.

But the Valeska Hinton has a balanced calendar, the Knoxville facility does.

And then I believe Harrison will have a pilot program.

- Correct.

- What is a balanced calendar?

And why go to a balanced calendar?

Because it takes away that summer break that at least some teachers like.

- Right, yeah so there is you have the traditional calendar and then you have the balanced calendar.

And there are many configurations of a balanced calendar, we're looking at what we call a modified calendar, because Valeska actually is 45 days in 15 out so three weeks out 45, right.

So if you think of it as a pie, for under the traditional pie, the traditional schedule the pie, you're out for six to eight weeks.

And so with the modified or the balanced, it's when you slice the Pie, it's a little bit more balanced.

And so there are lots of benefits for that, for example, in terms of wellness, in terms of social emotional, in terms of even continuity, and in terms of mitigating learning loss.

And so what we're looking at it at Harrison is two weeks off, right?

So instead of two weeks, they will be off for two weeks during these various key times that we're off, whether it's spring break, or whether it's a winter, that sort of thing.

So that in the summer break is not six to eight weeks but it's much less.

And that brings with it, again, continue with the of learning.

By the time you get upset and stressed out, you're not referring kids because it's time for a break.

So you just get more frequent breaks, which makes for a better system, a much more amicable system.

- If I understand your pie we're basically talking about four quarters.

Is that right?

- You're talking about the entire year and it's so let's say it's 174 days.

So the days we we're not talking about longer days, it's just that the pie is distributed more evenly.

- Okay and you're piloting this at Harrison.

- Correct.

- In hopes to expanding to other schools.

- Correct 'cause right now summer takes a huge chunk of that pie, right.

And you're right, some people look forward to vacation and those sorts of things.

So it's definitely a paradigm shift.

- There's another issue that some people are taking exception with and that is the renaming of schools.

Thomas Jefferson and Woodrow Wilson have already been renamed.

I think there's five more that are being considered.

From your perspective, and I know this came from a member of the school board.

But from your perspective, are we missing an opportunity to teach?

Thomas Jefferson being one, he was a slaveholder.

He was also the writer of the "Declaration of Independence" and the "Third President", extra.

Are we missing an educational opportunity by trying to rename these and I'm nothing against the names Mark Sanders was a fabulous woman, physician.

And Romeo Garrett, first black at the Bradley University.

But are we missing an opportunity?

- Yep, so as you referenced, it's a board project.

And my role is, once the decision has been made, to make sure that we sort of get the changes made.

So for example, we're in the process of we've gotten a rendition for what Dr. Reverend CT, Vivian's sign would look like and get that up, the colors and those sorts of things.

But, to really to answer your question, I think it's okay.

Because, when you look at the naming of all of our schools, and some of them, as we've heard do not have, their name, like Glen Oak, for example, the Area and those sorts of things.

It's an opportunity to share with the young people that America was built on a diverse group of brains and hands and bodies and individuals.

And really right now it's one sided.

So, I think it's okay, because Thomas Jefferson is not going to go anywhere.

We're still going to learn about him, we're still going to, 'cause what about the individuals who say, so what about the others?

Why did they not receive any credit?

So anyway, but my job though, is to--- - [H] Implement.

- In to implement, yes, sir.

- CT, Vivian, born in McComb I believe, and of course was active here in Peoria, with protests before going South--- - His daughters still lives here JoJo, she's still here and has been here her entire life.

- I wanna talk about Peoria stadium.

It's been may I use the term ignored.

- Sure.

- And yet there's an opportunity to rebuild it and make it multipurpose with a state grant.

What's the status of the state grant?

And where's the other money come from?

- And I would say ignored, but not intentionally ignored.

When you have limited funds, and you have to prioritize, right, so and then of course over time, it just got worse and worse.

And it's really in terrible shape so I'm really excited about the stadium project.

And the opportunity to refurbish and revitalize I'm very, very excited about that prospect.

And we're working towards that.

As you said, we have 5 million in the queue And it's a little bit slower than coming in than we had anticipated.

Because of COVID, the funding didn't pan out as planned, because obviously people were not gambling and they were not doing those things.

- That's not where the money was coming from.

- So--- - But it's a $10 million project.

- It's about 10 million, it will cost about 10 million.

- Where's the other five coming from?

- So there's fundraising going on, actually.

And we'll continue to seek additional support.

But it's nice that we at least have half of that.

And so to make the long story short, we're going to need additional support.

So if there are any sponsors and donors out there that are willing to assist, please give me a call.

But I'm optimistic that we will continue will fundraise the rest.

- A quick question in that regard to teacher shortage.

You still have a little bit of a shortage in trying to attract teachers to the district.

- Yeah, so H I'm really happy to report that when I came in, 2015 as superintendent, I walked in and really had no staff it was definitely a big job, still is, but I had no central office staff and I had 86 teacher openings.

And, so we've strategized and strategize and strategize.

And for about two to three years now, we have been working on bringing in because the teacher shortage is real.

So, yes, we're going to bring in some exchange teachers.

And so I'm excited about that on June, July 29th we'll have about 14 the first batch will be coming in.

And so we're down to five openings right now.

- Exchange teachers meaning?

- From the majority will be from the Philippines.

- Okay, all right, Dr. Sharon Desmoulin Kherat, thank you so much for joining us on At Issue.

- Thank you.

- I wish we had more time because there's other issues to talk about, but next time.

- [Dr.Sharon] Thanks for having me.

- And we thank you for joining us on At Issue.

We'll be back again next week with another edition this time talking to the new executive director of the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum, Christina Shutt.

Is that new director, a lot to talk about and we have some items to show you that you won't see at the museum.

Join us on the next At Issue.

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