A group of parents, teachers and volunteers is pushing the Springfield Public Schools board to place a school funding referendum on the Nov. 4 ballot. The group, Invest in 186, has proposed a plan that would raise between $8 million and $10 million. The money would begin to replace millions of dollars which were cut […]
District 186
Posted inNews
Meet Jennifer Gill
Jennifer Gill, who was voted in as superintendent of Springfield Public Schools this week, was educated in the same schools she’ll be overseeing in her new post. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE For Jennifer Gill, this is a sort of homecoming. Gill was born and raised in Springfield, was educated in Springfield’s public schools and went […]
Posted inNews
School district seeks to rebound from years of cuts
Outgoing interim superintendent Bob Leming received a gift from the Springfield school board at his final meeting on Jan. 7. Dr. Robert Hill has now replaced Leming as interim superintendent while the board negotiates with Jennifer Gill to take over the post full time. Springfield Public Schools could ask taxpayers for a boost soon, but […]
Posted inOpinion
Do by learning
The other day the Springfield School District 186 board took a break from discussions about finding a new superintendent – which it is not in a hurry to do – and heard a few things about something they ought to be in a hurry to do. Capital Area Career Center director Bob Klingborg informed the […]
Posted inNews
Extreme school makeover
What would cause parents to be excited about sending their children to a 102-year-old school building where 82 percent of the students come from low-income homes? The answer is an outpouring of generosity from a community intent on seeing the school succeed. Ever since the summer of 2011, Springfield’s Harvard Park Elementary School has seen […]
Posted inOpinion
Miracle worker
District 186 school superintendent Dr. Walter Milton leaves Springfield having disappointed a lot of people. (See Board games, Feb. 28, 2013.) The new District 186 board met May 3 with parents and other community members to discuss what each wanted in a new superintendent, which opinions will guide the search for candidates. Fair-minded critics have to ask, […]
Posted inNews
Closing the school that closes the gap
A popular Springfield middle school slated for closure may get a second chance at an upcoming school board meeting, based on public outcry and disputed cost-savings estimates. At the Feb. 18 meeting of the Springfield Public Schools Board of Education, board member Bill Looby disputed the $1.7 million savings estimate associated with closing the Capital […]
Posted inNews
School closure questioned
Scroll to the bottom to see what the School Board cut and what it kept. In the wake of a controversial decision to close a popular and successful middle school in Springfield, the divided school board continues to field questions about the reasoning for the closure and its estimated savings. About 200 “scholars” at the […]
Posted inNews
Developer blasts new Enos School plan
A Springfield developer with plans to revamp part of the Mid-Illinois Medical District says Springfield School District 186’s plan to replace the current Enos Elementary School is likely to cost more than expected. Dan Mulcahy, the Springfield developer behind Dankor Development LLC, says the district’s plan fails to completely account for factors like asbestos removal, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Pumpkins on parade
More than 2,000 jack-o-lanterns fill the night with light and character on two popular, illuminating nights at Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon and Washington Park Botanical Garden Friday, Oct. 14 and Saturday, Oct. 15. District 186 students, artists and the general public carved the crowd of pumpkins for the annual carillon fundraiser. Also visit the Pumpkin […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Public School Choice not quite revisited
Two newspaper articles, 12 days and at least one school board member’s questions later, the CEO of Springfield Public Schools says he’s not yet able to discuss a Public School Choice waiver application that would decrease the number of students’ families notified about potential options for moving from their failing school from more than 4,000 […]
Posted inNews
Non-union company wages labor war on three fronts
A non-union contractor suing Springfield School District 186 for rejecting the company’s construction bid last month has filed a second lawsuit over a related matter – this time in Effingham County courts, solely against the Illinois Department of Labor and its recently dismissed director, Catherine Shannon. It’s the newest approach – one of three so […]
