PEORIA, Ill. – Peoria Public Schools’ next superintendent, Dr. Jerry Bell, takes over for the retiring Dr. Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat on July 1st.
Bell previously spent eight years at P-P-S as Academic Instructional Officer and Executive Director of Middle Schools, before serving as Deputy Chief of Student Support for the Syracuse, New York City School District.
In his new administration at Peoria Public Schools, Bell is creating a new deputy superintendent position, an idea that came from his second interview.
“I want someone in whom I can trust, who can be my right-hand person, who can understand insights in the goings-on, if you will, since I left. And, there’s no better person than Renee Andrews,” Bell says.
Dr. Andrews currently serves as the assistant principal and 504 coordinator at Richwoods High School.
Dr. Bell’s goals for his first 100 days on the job include rebuilding internal relationships at PPS, and disseminating all of the district’s important academic data.
“I want to know where students fail on all of these criteria and reference exams. I need to know why ‘School A’ gets a superior excellence rating and ‘School B’ doesn’t.”
Bell says he’ll also be focused on building strong community relationships, and getting a firm grasp on the culture of Peoria Public Schools.
Bell’s contract with PPS is for three years.
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