PEORIA, Ill. – Though it shows July on the calendar with the summer heat hanging around, a new school year starts Wednesday for Peoria Public Schools.
With a new year about to begin, a couple things will be different for the more than 12,600 students enrolled at PPS. One of those is the addition of more than 400 students from the now-closed Quest Charter Academy.
Superintendent Dr. Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat tells WMBD’s “Greg and Dan” that integrating the students has gone better than expected.
“We’ve hired about 15 staff members from Quest, intentionally placed these staff members in school buildings where the majority of the kids are so they can see familiar faces. We have a case manager who is monitoring attendance, behavior,” Kherat said.
Kherat says most of the Quest students are at Richwoods High School, with some at Liberty, Mark Bills, and Rolling Acres. She says some decided to go back to their home schools at Manual and Peoria Central.
The Peoria Public Schools Board voted to not renew Quest’s contract back in January, citing falling short of goals and not hiring enough certified staff.
A new policy change starting this year will mean students at PPS this year will have to put their phones away during the school day. Middle and high school students will have to lock their phones away in a pouch.
The district purchased around 9,200 of the pouches in June for around $250,000.
Kherat believes the district’s principals do not expect a lot of problems from students being off their phones.
“They believe deep down in their hearts the majority of the kids will follow the policy and they will be compliant,” Kherat said.
Kherat says the new phone policy has been in discussions for the past eight years. But picked up steam when more people were on board with the plan.
Comments