PEORIA, Ill. — Peoria Public Schools (PPS) Superintendent Dr. Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat proposed a new, compromised three tier schedule for the 2021-22 school year that was met with some backlash from board members.
The schedule changed from the one originally unveiled in April that many community members voiced their displeasure for.
In the new schedule, high school students would attend from 7:30-2, middle school students would attend from 8:20-2:50, and primary school students would be in attendance from 9:10-3:40.
“Instead of having sixty minutes gap between the tiers, there is only 50 minutes,” said Kherat. “This is the same model we operated on last year, but it has an additional hour of class time.”
By changing the gap between tiers, PPS students would attend class for six and a half hours instead of just six in the coming year.
Board member Dan Walther still strongly opposed the new plan, saying younger students shouldn’t come in as late as 9:10 a.m.
Walther said if the first and third tiers were switched then he would support the schedule.
“How have you got a person that’s supposed to be at work at 8:00 and their primary school kid won’t be picked up until 9:10?” said Walther.
Kherat pointed to the schedule not being much different than that of 2020-21, but board member Dr. Anni Reinking said the past year was like no other.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Reinking said PPS should not be basing decisions off of the past school year when many parents worked from home, meaning they could be more flexible with when their child arrived at school.
Kherat responded by reminding both board members that all primary schools have before and after school care available for parents to drop their children off earlier or pick them up later.
President Doug Shaw said a consensus had been reached on following through with the new schedule, so a vote was not taken, and the schedule will be implemented for the 2021-22 school year.
