PEORIA, Ill. – A splash pad is the reasoning for a war of words between Peoria Public Schools and its teachers’ union.
In two separate social media posts on Monday, Peoria Federation of Teachers Local 780 accused the district of spending around $2 million in money from a fine arts grant for the Annie Jo Gordon Community Learning Center splash pad project.
The union says some schools in the district don’t have art teachers, and the ones at PPS “still have to buy their own supplies.” It also says there’s an existing splash pad near the planned one at Annie Jo Gordon that is only two years old.
Interview requests to the union by WMBD Radio News have gone unanswered.
Superintendent Dr. Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat, in a statement from PPS, says the grant is additional money that is a one-time opportunity for the district to “provide innovative experiences for students.” She adds that aforementioned grant money is being used to fund a music studio at Peoria High, as well as the splash pad.
Desmoulin-Kherat says the splash pad location was chosen to be accessible for the most underserved in the community, and that students can have music related activities during the day.
She says the district is also using current grant funding and other funding sources to invest in art materials and furniture, hiring seven additional middle school band instructors, and a part-time fire arts coordinator.
Desmoulin-Kherat also says “it is disappointing that when investments are made in the 61605 area, it’s called a waste of money.”
(Reporting by TJ Carson, WMBD Radio News)
(Note: The union references WMBD-TV in the above post, not WMBD Radio.)
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