PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD)– The Peoria Public School meeting on Monday brought several parents in to speak on an incident that occurred in April, regarding a student bringing a weapon on the school bus.
Major concerns involved why parents were not informed by the school themselves and had to rely on secondhand information and how incidents like Thursdays can be prevented in the future.
Nick Yates, a parent of a student at Kellar Elementary, made it clear he was not dissatisfied with how the school handled the incident but with how they chose to inform parents.
“From what we have gathered, the situation was handled appropriately, in a safe and timely manner.” said Yates, “We would have liked to have heard that from the school in a formal communication instead of from other parents.”
Roshi Connor, another parent of a student, also informed the Board that she heard about the incident from the grapevine as well. In spite of this, she took the time to acknowledge a root cause of violence in schools, bullying.
“At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that the student at the center of the incident was also a victim, a victim of bullying.” Connor continued, “Addressing and preventing one form of violence may have an impact on preventing other forms of violence. Which is why it makes sense for you as the board to consider bullying prevention tools to be incorporated into our school.”
The PPS board was receptive to what they were hearing. Board Member Greg Wilson appreciated hearing concerns and how to solve them. “One thing I’ve seen tonight is solutions, you didn’t just get up to the podium and talk about the situation, you actually brought ideas that can make this issue better so that it won’t happen again in the future.”
