School District Updates

 

K-12 schools are starting their Spring semesters this week, while balancing pandemic concerns with the need and demand for in-person learning. The News-Gazette had coverage of Urbana's District 116's first day and concerns by other area districts ahead. Excerpt:

The first day of Urbana High senior Tommy Wright’s final semester went fine, he said, though attendance was lighter than usual.

Several of his friends were out for COVID-19 reasons on Monday: some isolating or quarantining, some just staying home to avoid getting the virus. He’s not sure whether it’s COVID-19-related, but two of his seven classes were taught by substitutes...

Unit 4 Superintendent Shelia Boozer said her district planned to go ahead with in-person learning, though “it is always recommended that staff and students take their Chromebooks/ laptops home with them in the event we need to return to remote learning,” she told parents on New Year’s Eve.

Full article available in today's eEdition here. Many parents and teachers have talked about the shortcomings of remote learning compared to the benefits of in-person learning. Recent data appears to support that contention. Illinois Newsroom had coverage on standardized test scores dropping across the state, including linked data for Unit 4 and District 116 locally.

University of Illinois social work professor Kate Melissa Wegmann isn’t surprised by the statewide score declines.

Wegmann researches how students cope after disasters, among other topics, and teaches about public school policy.

COVID-19 disrupted everything about school, Wegmann explains. Teachers struggled to teach in a new format. Administrators scrambled to fill computer and internet divides. Parents faced unforeseen decisions about who would watch their child while they went to work.

That full article here.

In other State of Illinois news, a new State law on school dress codes is going into effect this year to take into consideration concerns about equitable treatment. Excerpt from Illinois Newsroom coverage:

Under a new Illinois law, hair dress codes like this would be illegal, according to the Illinois State Board of Education. The law is named after Jett Hawkins, a Black child in Chicago who was told by his school that he couldn’t wear his hair in braids. 

The law bans dress codes that say students can’t wear hairstyles traditionally worn by people of color including braids, locks and twists.

More at the full article here.

Other local district updates:

Unit 4:

Unit 4 approved some security measures this month. From WCIA:

One, was to keep paying security officers until June. The other was to have a four year contract with Evolv Technology. That would place metal detectors at two of the high schools.

They also named Jeremy Canales as their new director of security and school safety. He is a former Champaign Police Officer that will be responsible for all safety and security staff for the district...

He starts on January 3rd, 2022. By approving the metal detectors and security officers, the district will be spending over one million dollars.

Full article here. The News-Gazette was reporting that some Unit 4 schools will see metal detectors on the first day of school today.

When high school students return to Champaign Central and Centennial on Tuesday, they’ll be greeted with newly-installed metal detectors, which the Unit 4 School Board approved to purchase in October.

Students will walk into school as normal, the district said in an email to families, but they’ll need to remove their school-issued Chromebooks from their backpacks.

WCIA also had an overview of the "Yes" program at Unit 4 which helps kids towards their career goals.

District 116:

Urbana schools have joined Champaign in moving towards implementing metal detectors. From WCIA:

After their neighbors across Wright Street approved metal detectors at some school entrances, Urbana public schools next week will talk about installing similar devices.

The school board on Tuesday night will get a demonstration on the OPENGATE system from Ohio-based CEIA USA Ltd. The company described OPENGATE as “a Groundbreaking Weapons Detection System designed for the automatic screening of people in transit, including their luggage, backpacks, and bags, for the detection of Mass Casualty Metal Threats, such as high caliber assault weapons and IED devices.”

Full blurb here. More on the Champaign schools vote back in October from WCCU here.

From WCIA a couple months ago:

Sophomore Parker Schroeder and freshman Mycal Turner are the district’s first ever BOE Student Ambassadors. Sophomore Achly Ramos is an alternate.

This program started because board members want to know more about what students are going through and what they think about district-wide policies. The students applied for the positions, went through an interview process and took an oath to serve through the rest of the school year...

Ambassadors won’t be able to vote or go into closed executive sessions, but they will serve as the voice of the student body. They will study the agenda, chat with their peers and then answer board members’ questions or share concerns.

Full article here. WCIA also had brief blurb on the same ambassador program earlier in November here. Illinois Newsroom had similar coverage on the student ambassadors here. Excerpts:

More teachers in hallways between classes. Inclusion of Latin American history in dual language programs. Fewer weapons in schools.

These are some of the top issues of the first ever student representatives on the Urbana District 116 Board of Education. The three students took their official oaths of office on Tuesday evening...

Ramos Rivera is also a sophomore. She is focused on expanding opportunities for Hispanic students. For example, she is in the Urbana High School dual language program and would like to see the material tailored more to the students in the program.

“I’m from Puerto Rico, so I’m from a very small island. We know a lot about the United States and other countries. When I came here, the history was more about the United States,” Ramos Rivera says.

Ramos Rivera’s suggestions have already prompted changes on the school board. She asked the board to translate its materials into Spanish, which is easier for her to read. The superintendent announced on Tuesday that all board agendas will be in Spanish and English from now on.

That full article here.