The Board elected Chris Crawford president in the middle of his first term by a vote of four to two.  He was elected over Board member Martha Ross who ran multiple times for the post.  Peoria Federation of Teachers president Bob Darling criticized the school board and administration for not valuing teacher input:

 

“A bullying school board and a demanding, directing superintendent and cabinet, that’s not school reform.  That’s being tough, but that’s not school reform,” Darling says.

 

Darling says buy-in from all sides is needed in the coming year.  Crawford says keeping the lines of communication of open is a top priority for the Board:

 

“I know what bullying is, and we’re not doing that as a school board,” Crawford says.

 

“We are going to continue to move forward.  I don’t think a bully says I’ll listen to you.”

 

The vote caps-off a tense year with the union saying teachers are fatigued and dealing with a culture of fear in the district.  The administration says it regularly engages with teachers and that new curriculums are needed to boost student achievement.  The Board also unanimously approved Rick Cloyd as vice president for the next year.