Urbana SRO Expansion and Tree Grant

This post includes updates on the Student Resource Officer (SRO) program expansion in Urbana Schools and a recent tree replacement grant. Last night the Urbana City Council (agenda here, video here) had to push their decision to expand SROs in Urbana schools off to their next meeting after the meeting went four hours long. From the News-Gazette website last night / early this morning:

Updated: Urbana residents push back on officer proposal
...
After more than four hours, the city council forwarded the agreement to next week's meeting, when they can continue discussing and amending the 17-page agreement.

They already made one amendment to add an annual stakeholder review of the program, ensuring that the Urbana school board will get another vote on the amended agreement if the city council passes it...

The two officers would be an increase from the single part-time officer that’s historically been there, but the agreement would formalize a situation that’s already somewhat in place this school year.

The city had given its part-time officer more time last school year to spend in the schools after the district eliminated its deans in the spring of 2018, Urbana Police Chief Bryant Seraphin told the school board in October.

Full article with a lot of additional information here. The District 116 school board meeting that initially sent the proposal to the City Council for approval was also contentious. The News-Gazette article also noted it was similarly long meeting. WCCU had a brief overview and video segment here. WILL had a more detailed article and radio segment available here. Excerpts:

Urbana High School associate principal, Julie Blixen, also spoke in favor of more school resource officers, saying they “are more than just people with guns in our schools. They are there to be that safe person when someone needs something.”

But many community members and parents spoke out against the measure, citing research that finds that the presence of school resource officers doesn’t necessarily lead to safer schools, as well as racial disparities in discipline and arrests.

“I’m not for the school to prison pipeline,” Linda Reynolds told the board. “I’ve seen a lot of smart, intelligent kids lost and left behind. It’s not right. All kids deserve an education.”
...
Chief Seraphin addressed the school to prison pipeline concern. He said no Urbana student had ever been sentenced to the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice or Department of Corrections as a result an arrest made by a school resource officer over the last five and a half years.

Board president John Dimit defended the police department.

“I just frankly don’t buy that the Urbana police department has been a part of (the school to prison pipeline). I don’t think they ever have and ever will be,” he said.

That full WILL article with even more information is available here. There was also a lot of coverage on the Morton Arboretum's gift towards replacing trees damaged by a recent tornado. The City Council approved the grant funding at last night's city council (as part of the omnibus budget bill here. The original standalone resolution is available here). The News-Gazette had a lot of background on the donation and the damage it will help address last week:

After a tornado hit southwest Urbana in May, the city said it would need $22,000 to replace the 64 city-owned trees that were destroyed.

A $14,250 grant from the Morton Arboretum near Chicago will help Urbana do that...

In October, Urbana reached out to the community for donations to replace the trees destroyed by the F-1 tornado...

In addition to the tornado, the city has been working for more than a decade to remove trees killed by the emerald ash borer.

That’s been completed, Mitten said, but it now has 289 stumps to replace. The grant will help reduce its three-year backlog on planting to 18 months, she said.

Full article here. WCCU had a quick blurb on the provision passing at the Urbana City Council last night here.

5th and Hill Information Session

A local environmental issue is getting renewed attention again this year with an information session for the community. The 5th and Hill cleanup site is still causing concerns for local residents who believe the cleanup is incomplete and the testing has been problematic. Further below is some background information and additional links. Latest update from the Daily Illini last week:

The Fifth and Hill community has been exposed to toxic chemicals for over a decade due to the toxic waste left behind from Ameren Corporation’s old manufacturing plant.

Now, student organizations, such as Black Students for Revolution and Students for Environmental Concerns, are trying to get the University more involved.

Dimitri Love, senior in LAS and Education and co-leader of BSFR, said one event the organization is holding is an information session on Nov. 21 about what exactly is going on at Fifth and Hill and how people are being poisoned.

BSFR and SECS also plan to hold fundraisers and start GoFundMe pages. The fundraising will help obtain radiation cards that test the indoor air in people’s homes and determine if there are any toxic chemicals in the area...

Ameren has a former manufactured gas plant at Fifth and Hill streets. Residents have been fighting to have Ameren clean up the site for the past 12 years because of the health risks it poses to people in the surrounding area. 

Full article available here. The issue was in local headlines earlier this year. Some background from the WCIA coverage at the time (with video segment here):

It goes all the way back to the 1800s when an Ameren site was on 5th and Hill streets. It left a lot of waste on the site. It left in 1953, but people are concerned what’s left over is dangerous.

The biggest concern right now is Ameren isn’t being as transparent as it needs to be. Ameren is required to post test results on the groundwater at the site four times a year.

Those results haven’t been posted to the website since 2015. Campaign leaders say they’re fighting for the rights of residents. They believe they have been kept in the dark.

City leaders say Ameren has finished its clean up. The groundwater is analyzed quarterly and analyzed by the EPA. Ameren is working with Illinois EPA regulations to clean up the site.

All the coal tar has been removed from the main site, but some people think the contamination has gone offsite.

Ameren representatives say the reason for the delay is a transition to a new consultant. They say they understand there’s been a gap in posting. They say their priority was collecting samples but didn’t realize they hadn’t posted them in a timely manner.

Full article and video segment here. WILL has a more comprehensive article from the same time here. The WILL article includes links to additional information from Ameren and Champaign County Health Care Consumers on the issue. November 21st information session event information here and below:

Staying Warm

The Champaign County Emergency Management Agency had an update last night on the C-U Warming Center hours:

In Champaign County there is a dial 211 phone directory for services (more information here). Champaign has a list of emergency shelters, including the C-U Warming Shelter, here. The full list includes emergency shelters for a variety of needs, but below is the warming shelter information excerpt (note the time change from the Champaign County EMA above):
Daytime Warming Centers

The Phoenix Daytime Drop-In Center
Provides a year-round drop-in center and winter daytime warming site for those in our community that need a place to be. Hours of operation are Tuesday through Friday from 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Additional hours may be added when daytime temperatures drop below 10° and are based on volunteer manpower.
Location:  70 E. Washington St., Champaign (the former TIMES Center)
Contact:  217-819-4569
Website:  cuathome.us

Salvation Army Stepping Stone Program and Daytime Warming Center
The Stepping Stone Program will house men, women and families who present as homeless and who commit to working the program. Capacity is limited, so agencies must contact the Program Manager before referring. The Salvation Army Red Shield Center on Market Street also serves as a daytime warming center Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Location: 2212 N. Market St., Champaign

Other Daytime Warming Options
Other locations to stay warm include public buildings during normal business hours (i.e. federal, state, local government buildings, libraries, etc.). 

More information from the full listing here. WCIA had a segment on local shelters and expanded hours:

Homeless shelters are preparing for the steep drop in temperatures this week. C-U at Home says they are expanding their hours Monday. Because it is Veterans Day and other places might not be open, they wanted to have a safe place for people who need to warm up.

Austin’s Place says they are staying open one hour later than they usually do. The co leader for Austin’s Place says they are ready but weren’t anticipating the cold. Austin’s Place and C-U at Home are planning to have a year round shelter starting November of next year. They’re hoping to gain support of community donors to make that happen.

Blurb and video segment available here. More information on C-U at Home here, and Austin's Place here or their facebook page here. More coverage form the News-Gazette on the plans for 24/7 shelter options next year from an article last month here. The United Way also has some additional listings for winter services in its most recent guide available here.

School Board Updates

I have some various updates on the two main local school boards in Champaign and Urbana. The Illinois State Board of Education released its 2019 report cards on school districts state wide, including Champaign's Unit 4 here and Urbana's District 116 here. (other specific schools and districts can be looked up here). Urbana's School Board had a presentation of their report card at their last study session (video here, PDF of presentation slides here, and agenda here). 

Urbana was also in the news recently over possibly adding more school resource officers. From the News-Gazette earlier this week:

The Urbana school board is considering an intergovernmental agreement with the city that would make possible an expanded use of school resource officers.

The school district, which currently has a single part-time school resource officer, is considering having two full-time officers instead.

Under the proposal, the officers would be stationed at the middle and high schools.

On Tuesday evening, district Superintendent Jennifer Ivory-Tatum reviewed the proposed agreement with the city and police department, which the school board could vote on at its Nov. 19 meeting.

If the school board approves the deal, Mayor Diane Marlin said the city council would vote on it sometime before year’s end.

Full article here. More background on this issue from the News-Gazette last month here. At the State level, there has been a recent push to close a potential loophole requiring parental notification before students are interrogated about crimes by School Resource Officers. More on that from WILL here.

Champaign's School Board recently came to a settlement agreement with its outgoing CFO, with the reasons still being unclear. From the News-Gazette last month:

The Champaign school district and its chief financial officer have agreed to go their separate ways.

After exiting a 29-minute closed session Tuesday night, members of the Champaign school board voted 7-0 to approve a settlement and release agreement with CFO Tom Lockman.

Under the terms of the deal, the district will pay Lockman $151,975, less applicable taxes and withholding, by Jan. 10, 2020. He will also receive money for any unused vacation time he has or will accrue through November 2019.

In turn, Lockman agrees to resign from his job effective Dec. 31 and take an unpaid leave of absence beginning today.

More at that full article here. Unit 4 is also getting pressure to expand the dual-language program at the International Prep school. From the News-Gazette a couple weeks ago:

A series of parents who appeared before the board Monday praised the benefits of dual-language education for their children and asked members to consider extending the programs through eighth grade...

The problem, according to Stegmaier, is that there isn’t any referendum funding available to add the extra years of classes parents and students want and some other desired amenities.

In fact, an initial floor plan developed by BLDD Architects calls for putting fifth-grade classes in portable classrooms...

The school board directed the district staff to research cost estimates for various options, including a possible expansion through eighth grade, based on the feedback from parents, and bring that back in November.

Full article here.