Unit 4 and Referendum Updates

For residents in the Unit 4 school district, the upcoming election will have some choices on the ballot for you. Candidates have been doing forums and meet and greet events recently that can be found in this earlier post along with more election information and candidate guide links: Local Candidate Roundup. Smile Politely also had a great post with Champaign and Urbana school district data here. I've been catching up on local government news this past month and this roundup will cover Unit 4 and related referendum project news:


Highlights:

It appears there are still some tensions between the Champaign City Council and the school board due to citizens pressuring their representatives for more details:

Champaign council urges Unit 4 to shed more light on Central expansion
...
City council members urged Champaign school district officials Tuesday night to listen closely to residents' concerns about lighting at Central High School's future athletic fields, as well as other expansion-related issues.

More details at the full article here. In coverage of last month's school board meeting, the bidding process for Central expansion projects moved forward in spite of vague "budget issues" mentioned: Champaign school board opens Central expansion project for bidding

There were also issues with meeting the diversity goals set forth in the referendum plans:

Diversity goals in bids for Unit 4 referendum work proving a challenge
Questions raised last month about the Champaign school district's financial commitment to minority- and female-owned business enterprises were addressed Monday evening as officials laid out how many referendum dollars have gone to various businesses.

Unit 4 set two goals with its referendum work expenses: send 12 percent of the money to minority-owned businesses and 8 percent to female-owned ones.

The only problem?

The Illinois School Code doesn't allow districts to give their construction work to businesses based on diversity goals. Instead, districts are legally obligated to choose the "lowest responsible bidder" when they choose contractors for work.

More information at the full article here and efforts to make sure the pool of bidding businesses includes diverse ownership.

Some Unit 4 staff remain on the lookout for any new mold problems after cleanup attempts since last semester. From WCIA with video segment at the link:

Committee formed after mold found in classrooms
Last semester, crews found airborne mold in more than a dozen district classrooms.

Teachers say at least two of them started feeling sick. Several deep cleanings and thousands of dollars later, the teachers' union says they were concerned about the situation so much, they addressed it in their contract negotiations...

During contract negotiations in November, the teachers' union bargained for the creation of a "hazardous conditions committee." Members of both unions and the district will start meeting this year.

"The reality is, our teachers, our custodians, the staff that are on campus are going to be our best first eyes and ears to what might be happening," says Zola, "All those voices are important around the table, because all of those voices are going to be a part in any solution we might have in a situation like this."

Some teachers say they are most concerned about the portable classrooms. October test results from one room at Barkstall showed it had six to eight times the recommended amount of airborne mold. Both portable rooms at Barkstall were cleaned over winter break. 

Full article and segment here.


Additional Referendum Project Information and Updates:

Referendum project information for work at McKinley Field and Spalding Park: Unit 4 referendum work update: Big changes coming for parks

Referendum project questions were asked and answered about the fate of nearby houses, Combes Gym, and rental properties in two recent Tom's Mailbags:

• Tom's #Mailbag, Feb. 8, 2019: the Solon House is safe, mountain of dirt by Centennial High, and Central High parking details.
• Tom's #Mailbag, March 1, 2019: Combes Gym will remain, Church St. properties will be for rent, and another Church St. property will be razed soon.

Some projects left out of the referendum are still considered necessary, but need further public approval:

As school's enrollment rises, the budget for its renovations might, too
As promised in its portion of Unit 4's $183.4 million referendum, Edison Middle School will get a bigger gym, a new cafeteria and renovated classrooms.

But it's what isn't currently included in the rehab plan that taxpayers approved in 2016 that now has board members weighing the possibility of expanding the cost of the Edison project — budgeted for $15 million — by as much as $10 million more.

Following a public meeting the News-Gazette had more details on the Edison issues:

Unit 4 referendum oversight panel receptive to raising budget for Edison work
Champaign school district officials spent Monday evening soliciting comment from its referendum oversight committee about a possible $7 million to $10 million increase to the budget for renovations at 105-year-old Edison Middle School — and the feedback was mostly positive...

What's not included in the Edison budget — and never was, even when it hovered at $33 million — is a solution to the building's overcrowding.

With 844 students projected to be attending classes there in 2019-20 and 858 in 2020-21, according to a demographic study the district commissioned, the building is well over capacity.

Armstrong said conversations about the district's ability to house all of those students were ones that "we hadn't had" at the time of referendum planning.

A separate committee — formed to specifically address that issue, among others — is currently "having those meetings now," Armstrong said.

 More information at the full articles here and here.