This post previews tonight's Unit 4 Board of Education meeting, coverage and notes on the past few board meetings, and some related Unit 4 news items in the local news. Topics include the district moving towards the hybrid model many parents have been demanding, a delayed look at the School Resource Officer program, empowerment of Black students and teachers, and a deep dive into the district's strategic plan. Smile Politely also had a recent overview of Unit 4's YES employment program for students worth checking out.
In response to Section X of the Board Resolution to Declare Racism a Public Health Crisis, District administration conducted a review of the SRO Program that included the voices of students, parents, staff, administration, and the SROs themselves. Their feedback was captured via surveys and focus groups. Survey and focus group questions were created by the newly-formed SRO Ad Hoc Committee comprised of:
- students from the Goal Getters group
- parents recommended by PTA Council
- middle and high school teachers and administrators who are also members of either the District Safety Committee or the Discipline Advisory Committee
- the equity assistant principals
- community agency representatives from DREAAM, Don Moyer’s Boys and Girls Club, First Followers, and East Central Illinois Youth for Christ
- the Champaign Police supervisor over SROs.
Alternatives to the SRO Program were investigated and discussed by the committee, as well. Tonight, I will present the committee’s findings and their recommendation to maintain the SRO Program with modifications and to add Student Support Advocates beginning with the 2021-22 SY.
A previous discussion on SROs last month was abruptly removed from the agenda in January. At the time there had been legislation that may have made the subject moot, including an Illinois bill that would have eliminated SROs in Illinois altogether. As WCIA noted, that bill has since been tabled (possibly until next year):
House bill 0029 was proposed Wednesday. It’s already been tabled, which means it probably won’t move until next year. Still, school leaders are afraid the idea behind it could re-surface...
The bill also outlines things that should happen if a student under 18 is questioned by officers. It says their parents should be notified, and a parent or someone like a school psychologist or school nurse should be there during the questioning.
WREX had a concise overview of the bill in their coverage here. At the January 25th School Board meeting, public speakers were frustrated by the agenda change, but took the opportunity to share community concerns on police in schools that night (available at the meeting video starting at the 48:10 minute:second mark here). Board Member, Dr. Baker echoed public comments about the need for a plan to get the district on a path towards in-person learning now. Other board comments explained some of the legal issues with the agenda change.
The News-Gazette had coverage of some of the back and forth on in-person learning at the meeting:
Two Champaign school board members expressed exasperation Monday with Superintendent Susan Zola’s plan for returning to in-person learning...
District principals explained at the last school board meeting that rather than a hybrid model, where a majority of students would simply watch their teacher and have no interaction during class, they preferred a model where all students had access to the same classroom experience.
Zola noted that in the Springfield district, only 40 percent of students are back in class, “which means 60 percent are just watching their teachers teach.”
More at the full article here. Around the same time WICS had coverage of the impact of complex and changing bus schedules and concerns about the impact on the mental health of students.
Soon after the February 8th School Board meeting, the district flipped on the hybrid model decision. From the News-Gazette on February 10th:
The administrators made a case that their setup would be better educationally, with Central Principal Joe Williams saying “Teachers really struggled, thinking, ‘What would it be like for three-fourths of the student body every day to simply be watching TV?’”
But last week, the district announced it would be going with a hybrid plan that more closely resembles the one those parents advocated for...
By the time the changes occur, all staff members who want to be vaccinated will likely have received their second dose. Like Urbana, Champaign plans to begin testing students using the University of Illinois’ saliva test in the coming weeks. Both districts will be able to test their students for the rest of the year thanks to a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.
Full article here. In another reversal, the News-Gazette also reported that some Unit 4 games will allow two spectators per student player.
February also saw the start of a collaboration between Unit 4 and the MTD to empower black girls. From WCIA:
The campaign highlights the importance of positive representation, that the girls who ride the bus to school should see someone who looks like them and feel proud.
When asked how the community can get involved in the campaign, Assistant Superintendent Angela L. Ward said, “This campaign is just about casting positive images. It starts with posting positive things online. It starts with positive things coming out of your mouth. It starts with thinking positive things when you see those young ladies who are carrying the world on their shoulders.”
The “Brilliant, Bold, Beautiful” ads will be posted on the buses for the next two months, and CUMTD said they are looking forward to participating in more campaigns like this one in the future.
That full article and video segment here. More recently, there was local coverage of the Champaign-Urbana Black Teacher' Alliance. From the News-Gazette last week:
Being a Black teacher can be isolating. Only 7.4 percent of Unit 4 teachers and 9.1 of Urbana teachers were Black during the 2020 school year, and even those numbers are higher than the state average. Without a large group of peers, it can be hard to know whether experiences unique to Black teachers are perceived or imagined...
She wanted to create an organization that focused on inward support rather than outward messaging...
In the future, Thomas hopes that teachers aren’t as exhausted as she is as she tries to play the role of support person and mentor to Black students, which outnumber White students in both the Champaign and Urbana districts.
That full article here. There was additional coverage by WICS here:
The group was created in 2019 with just a few faculty, but now it is comprised of over 75 educators from all departments in schools from Champaign-Urbana.
Its goal was focused on connecting Black educators for support purposes, but 2020 took its mission in a different direction.
It's now finding new growth after the pandemic and serves as role models and mentors for students of color.
That full article and video segment here.
Unit 4 Strategic Plan Assessment
For folks who really want a deep dive into the Unit 4 strategic plan, including early successes in implementation, and other findings and recommendations of the FourPoint assessment, you're in luck! The February 22nd meeting had a presentation on all the nitty gritty here at the 34 minute mark.
For folks who want to see a brochure style overview of the district's Strategic Plan, Unit 4 has a page here offering it in multiple languages. Folks who work with corporate bureaucracies might be a bit more comfortable with the "synergistic" lingo. At times, I find myself pondering whether certain sentences or paragraphs actually managed to avoid saying anything at all. You're not alone if you have to pause and look up "unit 4 RTI" on google more than once. Also Response to Intervention is an important part ensuring students who need help get it. Here's a couple sentences from the Unit 4 page explaining RTI that seemed to get the gist:
The problem solving method is used to match instructional resources to educational need...
Use progress monitoring data to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention plan.
There was quite a bit between those two sentences, but as best as I can understand, they're just trying to ensure that a student who needs help gets some follow up if the help isn't working. I leave it to the reader to interpret and judge from there.
