USD116 BOE Update: August 8, 2023

Dr. Wiemelt gave an update on programs housed at Tiger Academy: the Alternative Education Day Time Program and the Freedom Schools Program.

New for the 2023-24 year

• The Alternative Ed Day Time Program will have a full-time teacher.
• There will be an increase in family support
• There is an increase in staffing for the Alt Ed Program, which means an increase in students served.

General Updates

• Freedom Schools (after school program) partnered with the Urbana Park District for summer internships and service learning.
• Freedom Schools summer program work included curriculum work, internships, college visits, credit recovery and recreation.
• For 2022-23 there were 23 students who attended the Alternative Ed Day Time Program
• 43 credits were earned
• Average grade point average for the students in this program was a "B"
• Zero discipline referrals for fighting
• In 2022-23 there were 78 students served by the Freedom Schools after school program. There was an average of 35-40 students/night.

View the full presentation

The Board discussed its goals for the year, as well as study topics it would like to review during the next school year. Some of those include:

• Start a discussion around planning for an elementary attendance redistricting
• Review the board policy manual in regards to our ELLs
• Review/update the District Facilities Plan and the Campus Land Use
• Board member lunches at schools
• Review the expulsion process and the possibility of working with a hearing officer
• Explore other community partnerships

This list will be finalized at a future meeting.

New guidance from the state requires us to automatically enroll high school students into the next level of advanced course work offered by the high school if the student meets or exceeds state standards in language arts, math, or science.

Students deemed meeting or exceeding standards based on last year's testing were notified of the opportunity to be enrolled in the advanced courses. Counselors are tracking who accepts and who declines the schedule change.

A formal process will be established for this process going forward.

Faith's Law is a bill that aims to prevent and properly respond to sexual misconduct in schools. This went into effect July 1, 2023.

• USD116 new hires must go through Faith's Law background check called the employment history review
• New USD116 hires must fill out sexual misconduct disclosure
• USD provides employment history reviews for previous employees

More information about Faith's Law: https://www.isbe.net/faithslaw

Highlights:

• Back-to-school nights
• Ribbon Cuttings for UHS Band Room and Thomas Paine
• Physicals and immunizations are due the first day of school.