Charter Oak Primary School PTC Special Action Committee

C/o Charter Oak Primary School PTC * 5221 Timberedge Dr. * Peoria, IL 61615

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information: Brenda Wilson, Media Contact 309/645-3378 brendamscott@yahoo.com

CHARTER OAK SPECIAL ACTION COMMITTEE RESPONDS TO DISTRICT 150 SCHOOL BOARD DECISION Charter Oak PTC claims victory while outraged at release of biased report PEORIA, IL, January 14, 2014 The Charter Oak PTC Special Action Committee (SAC) is claiming a small victory after last nights District 150 School Board meeting and is looking forward to hearing Principal John Wetterauer address the accusations and allegations made against Charter Oak by the school board and administration. While acknowledging that the school boards report is concerning, the SAC and the Charter Oak community is outraged at the school boards accusations and its release to the public a whollybiased, highly-edited report, that is obviously slanted to sway public opinion against John Wetterauer and the children and teachers at Charter Oak Primary School. The report should not be taken at face value, says Dan Dugal, the Special Action Committee chairman. It doesnt offer any mitigating evidence. The purpose of the investigation was to find the truth, not to cherry pick data and peoples answers and take them out of context to prove biased points. The lack of any discussion of any mitigating evidence at this point, suggests an agenda and a predetermined outcome. Following are some of the more glaring discrepancies: 1. The Preliminary Investigative Report was compiled and written by the law firm of Hodges, Loizzi, Eisenhammer, Rodick and Kohn LLP. This law firm works for the District 150 school board and is not an independent, unbiased entity, creating a conflict of interest.

2. Of the 1,200 ISAT tests given in the 3-year period in question, only 26 tests are considered irregular. This extremely small data sample would not support statistically significant findings. 3. If Charter Oaks teachers received no ISAT training as was claimed in the report, why were there no discrepancies in the other 1,173 ISAT tests given to non-IEP students given over the 3-year period? 4. The ISAT test scores of Charter Oak/Mark Bills students are NOT comparable to the ISAT scores of Keller/Lindbergh students. Charter Oak, Keller and Lindbergh all consistently achieve their AYP goals. However, Mark Bills does not. Therefore, comparing ISAT test scores from Lindbergh, a producing school, to Mark Bills, a non-producing school, is invalid since variables at both schools are obviously vastly different. 5. It took 5 years for the District 150 administration and school board to notice such a supposed large discrepancy in ISAT scores. Therefore, the District 150 administration, and Grenita Lathan in particular, needs to be held as accountable for her lack of oversight as the teachers and principal at the school. 6. Grenita Lathans letter, dated December 12, 2013, stated that the District 150 administration had taken the proper and appropriate action of placing Mr. Wetterauer on paid administrative leave from his duties as Charter Oaks principal. Paid administrative leave is not a disciplinary action, and does not imply guilt or wrongdoing; rather, it is a precautionary operational decision that has been made in an effort to ensure that both our internal and any external investigations are completed in a manner that is unbiased and fair to all parties, including Mr. Wetterauer. If this is the case and if other schools within the district were also investigated, why were those principals not put on administrative leave as well? The Charter Oak PTC SAC and the Charter Oak community are fully committed to continuing their investigation into the suspicious and surreptitious actions taken by the administration and school board and will continue to fight to bring transparency and truth to light. The SAC will also continue its investigation into the atmosphere of fear and intimidation surrounding District 150. ***