USD116 BOE Update: Oct. 3, 2023

The Board approved the District Facilities Committee's Recommendation to reopen Wiley as a 6th Grade Center for the 2025-26 school year.

The board also approved the contract for the Wiley Asbestos Abatement.

Redistricting Consultant, RSP & Associates, gave information on how they could support redistricting for the Urbana School District. RSP would build custom, data-driven initiatives to help the Board analyze enrollment and capacity needs and boundary realignment. The project would cost $49,500

View the full presentation which includes a break down of the boundary process

A Professional Services Agreement was given to the Board for a first read. This will be brought back for approval during the October 10 Business Meeting. The District has already budgeted for a redistricting firm and strategic planning this year. Redistricting is really the first step in starting the Strategic Planning Process.

Below are some of the questions/answers after the presentation:

Q: What are challenges for Districts with high mobility like USD?

RSP A: Determining the in/out migration and what impact that has on what areas. A good portion of the analysis would look at those elements.

Q: In our district we have a lot of multilingual families. How will you address the multilingual families?

A: One is with the data, as we look at where people live and the migration data. There could also be interpreters at the meetings. Anything we create that goes out to the public, should also be distributed in other languages. (We would) try to reach out to those community members, in a way that would allow their input to be seen (through) the entire process.

Q: How long-term are your predictions over time?

A: Five years

Q: Would you expect people that use your services to then redistrict again 15 years later, or what kind of longevity do you predict?

A: A lot of that ties back to what is happening in your community. Our goal is that our boundaries last as long as possible within the constraints/things you can't control for. (Natural disasters/pandemic/companies come or go, etc.)

The Board was given an update on the dual credit opportunities, the Education Pathways Program and the Executive Internship Program.

• We have 16 students participating in Executive Internships in various fields
• 20 students are participating in Early College Career Academy - these courses are dual credit and include CNA, EMS, Criminal Justice, Education Pathway, Precision Agriculture, Industrial Technology and Computer Programming.
• There are eight additional dual-credit Parkland courses available at UHS
• Opportunities for certification, including CNA Certification, Basic Drone certification, and ServSafe Food Handlers Certification
• 90 students are enrolled in dual credit

View the full presentation

• USD is seeing an increase in meal participation
• The à la carte programs at UMS and UHS have been brought back (Must have money on your account for these items)
• Planning for a coffee shop at the high school
• Vegetarian/Vegan options in the cafeteria: They are looking at more vegetarian options for the monthly menus. Anyone can fill out a request for vegan/plant-based lunch. Please contact Phillip Miritello at pmiritello@questfms.com or 217-384-3501

View the full presentation

Dr. Ivory-Tatum gave a brief overview of the Facilities Committee’s Recommendation for

a 6th-Grade Center from the August 22, 2023 Board meeting. Review that presentation here.

She also gave information/data about the following:

Should we have two middle schools? Preliminary thoughts:

• The biggest challenges are fully staffing both buildings, the costs associated with new staff adds, and the additional need for more financial resources to increase the facility dollars necessary to include the instructional spaces necessary for 6, 7, and 8th grades.
• One scenario is to have two teams at UMS (600 students including dual language) and one team at the current Wiley (300 students)
• Staffing is a concern -- we would need to share some staff across the two buildings. We would also need additional staff and admin to provide a similar instructional model, similar programming and electives. We would need additional staff to provide comparable enrichment activities.
• The Board would need to redraw the district's student attendance boundaries to reflect which students go to the Wiley building and which would go to the current UMS
• The Board would need to create an elementary feeder school model
• Create another funding source to include the increased facility needs at Wiley (more space for electives/ special education classes, etc.)

Information about student transportation:

• The number of students who are bussed to school ranges from 35% to 60% for elementary schools
• 67% of UHS and 75% of UMS students use district bus service
• Years of student overflow at DPW have created racial disparities in bussing at Yankee Ridge and Thomas Paine
• Most students in DL or ESL programs are bussed to school

Q: What percentage of elementary students in our District live more than 1.5 miles from any school?

A: 44.6 percent of students live within 1.5 miles of a school (not including IDOT hazards). A larger percentage of students live outside of a neighborhood school area.

Dr. Ivory-Tatum's Superintendent Report is available here: October 3, 2023

Highlights:

• Vote for UHS Choir
• National Principals Month
• Due to Fall Break (October 16-20) the next BOE meeting is next Tuesday, October 10

The BOE Student Ambassador report is available here: October 3, 2023

Highlights:

• Recognitions this month
• Homecoming recap
• Conferences are Oct. 26 & 27