Peoria Public Schools will participate in a program built to improve graduation rates for black, Latinx, and low-income students.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is paying $13 million to bring the BARR program to come to Manual, Peoria High, Richwods, and 27 other schools nationwide as part of a school improvement network.
Board member Dan Walther thinks it will be a worthy addition to existing district curriculum.
"When I talked with Dr. Kherat and some of the principals, they said we do about 80 or 90 percent of this. The difference is that other 10 to 15 percent that BARR does. It's a little different. I think it just complements what we do with social-emotional and some other things," he said.
The BARR program provides coaching, training, data support, and other resources for teachers to better prepare students.
The program comes at no cost to the district. It runs through the end of the 2021-22 school year.
Peoria Public Schools will also participate in the "Teacher Leader" pilot study and training with the U.S. Department of Education for the next two years. Participating teachers will receive $5,000 stipends.
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