The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 3

A3 Julie Gerke, managing editor, FRIDAY. (309) 829-9000, ext. 256, e-mail: newsroompantagraph.com AUgUSt 7, 2009 Pontiac Elementary District 429 f' Message to drivers: Put down cell phone Quinn signs law banning texting 8 1 1 "3 )t By Deanna Bellandi ASSOCIATED PRESS CHICAGO College student Juan Ibarra hopes a new Illinois law banning text messaging while driving will help him kick the dangerous habit. "I know' I should not do it," said Ibarra, 24, a Northeastern Illinois University senior. 'J i.

iirn Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn was at the college Thursday to sign the law that bans motorists from texting or reading e- Pat Quinn I ThePantagraphBMOSHER First-grade teacher Kathi Sutter places doodle boards on empty desks on Wednesday in preparation for the first day of school at Central Elementary School in Pontiac. Sutter, previously a teacher at Lincoln Elementary School, was relocated to Central as part of an attendance center plan aimed at cutting costs. New year, new classroom qp t- 1, "Si mail while they're moving. Drivers can check and send messages if they pull over to the side of the road, -their car is in park or neutral or if they're at a standstill in traffic, such as at a train crossing.

The law goes into effect Jan. 1. "We all know we live in a fast-paced world. We're all busy, a lot of times maybe we get too busy and we get too distracted and distracted driving can cause a safety threat to many innocent people in our society and in our state," Quinn said. Quinn also signed another bill making it illegal to use a cell phone without a hands -free device in school speed zones and highway construction zones.

Because of the safety threat posed by distracted driving, at least 14 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws making it illegal to text and drive. Fines start at $75 In Illinois, fines for this level of traffic violation typically start at $75 and go up to $150 but a judge can bump that up, according to Secretary of State Jesse White's office. "It's a violation of all laws of human decency for you to get behind the wheel of an automobile and try to get from one point to the other without your eyes being on the road," White said. The law doesn't prevent drivers from reading directions on a navigation system. College student Cesar Miranda will have to change his driving and texting habits because of the new law.

Miranda, a Northeastern Illinois junior, had been care'-ful to limit his texting to only when stopped at red lights, but that won't be legal i- vi" tit 1 1 4 1 VI. v. Change to attendance centers gives teachers a reason to learn, too By Tony Sapochetti tsapochettiifipantagraph.com PONTIAC Kathi Sutter was busy this week preparing her classroom for what she described as more than 20 "smiling faces" who will be arriving on Aug. 19. All of the words are posted on the word wall, special doodling pads are on all of the desks, and the room has a fresh coat of "happy time yellow" paint Sutter, who has taught in Pontiac Elementary District 429 for 17 years, once again has been counting the days until her first -graders come back for first day of school.

This year will be little different however. She moved from Lincoln Elementary School to Central Elementary School as part of the district's new attendance center plan, which assigns students to a school based on grade level, not where they live. For example, all first -graders in the district will attend Central instead of their local neighborhood school this year. "We are all going to learn together, and we are all in this," she said of the district's new configuration. "The kids are learning, the staff is learning and the parents are learning.

We are all in an educational environment this year." Even though nearly two -thirds of the district's almost 100 teachers switched to new schools, district officials said this week the transition went smoothly. I think the transition from Lincoln to Cen -tral was made seamlessly and the administration had everything in our rooms, so we just had to come in and unpack," Sutter said. Among the steps taken to ease the process was the creation of' a districtwide parent teacher organization this year, said Superintendent Steve Graham. this year, the school board voted to switch from neighborhood-based schools to attendance centers as part of a plan to cut -XV 1 Sutter rotates pages in her large learning ip book pad in her newly decorated room at Central Elementary School in Pontiac. Open houses GO! Pontiac Elementary District 429 open houses will be: "We're broke, and if it wasn't for that (the layoffs) then we would be much worse," Graham said.

The decision to switch to attendance centers received a lot of feedback, both positive and negative, and triggered an Open Meetings Act violation allegation that was subsequently resolved. "I think the vast majority of people trusted what the board and this administrative team was going to do and we were OK from the very beginning," Graham said. "There was a small group that didn't want change." Pontiac Junior High school Principal Judy Donze said having all fourth-and fifth-graders at the adjoining Washington Elementary School will help those students make the transition to junior high. For example, teachers at the two schools can share technology. 6:30 p.m.

Aug. 17 -Central Elementary (Pre-K through first grade) 6:30 p.m. Aug. 24 Lincoln Elementary (second and third) 6:30 p.m. Aug.

25 -Washington Elementary (fourth and fifth) 7 p.m. Aug. 27 Pontiac Junior High (sixth, seventh and eighth) $900,000 from the budget. Attendance centers allow districts to combine each grade into fewer classrooms, and that allowed District 429 to lay off 10 full-time teachers and 15 teacher's aides. Officer in porn case alleges eavesdropping of I administrator tabbed for ISU VP Hurst wants evidence from computer barred By Edith Brady-Lunny CLINTON A Clinton police officer accused of viewing pornography on his squad car computer is asking that evidence collected from the computer be barred from an upcoming disciplinary hearing because police officials are guilty of eavesdropping.

Patrolman Billy Hurst, 40, of Clinton will face the Clinton Police and Fire Commission Aug. 13 on charges that he acted improperly by spending more than 23 hours watching pornography during working hours from Nov. 13, 2008, to Jan. 24, 2009. The charges filed in January initially sought a 30-day suspension for Hurst but were amended a month later by Clinton Police Chief Mike Reidy to ask that the officer be fired if Hurst was aware that any message sent to the computer was retrievable, said the response.

The officer also takes exception in his complaint to the release of information about the current disciplinary action and previous allegations lodged by the department against him. The specifics of the charges were released to the media under requests filed under the state Freedom of Information Act. Voyles conceded Thursday that that portion of his complaint may be moot in light of a recent Illinois 4th District Appellate Court ruling that prohibits police agencies from withholding the results of internal investigations. "I think the ruling is wrong but that's what the law is," said Voyles. Hurst remains on duty but was moved to the night patrol shift after charges were filed.

He also was removed from his post as juvenile officer. He has been with the department for about 15 years. found guilty by the three -member commission. Hurst's attorney, Shane Voyles, with the Policemen's Benevolent labor committee, filed a civil complaint in May in DeWitt County court accusing Reidy of eavesdropping by monitoring Hurst's computer activities. Hurst did not consent to the city's installation of software put in place after viruses were detected on city computers, said Voyles.

Voyles is asking a judge to bar the computer information from Hurst's hearing. The defense attorney said Thursday that the police and fire board has declined to postpone the hearing until a ruling on the issue. The commission and Reidy argued in response to the lawsuit that Hurst agreed when he was hired to follow agency rules, including a provision that "officers will not use the Mobile Data Terminals in any manner that would tend to discredit the Clinton Police Department." vious positions was serving as the state Board of Higher Education's deputy director for planning and budgeting and for planning and technology. He's also worked in Florida, Arizona and Wisconsin. As ISU vice president, Layzell will lead offices handling ISU budgeting, business, comptroller issues, facilities, human resources and more.

Layzell, who has taught higher education courses at three universities, earned his doctorate in higher education administration at Florida State University at Tallahassee. PANTAGRAPH STAFF NORMAL A University of Illinois administrator has been named Illinois State University's new vice president for finance and planning. Daniel Layzell will take office Sept. 15 to replace Steve Bragg who retired in May after 15 years in that role. Layzell will be one of four vice presidents working in ISU President Al Bowman's administration, He currently is associate vice president for planning and administration at of I's Urbana campus.

Among his pre- I.