USD116 BOE Update: April 2, 2024

The following USD #116 staff has achieved National Board Certified Teacher status:

• District-Wide: Olivia Grillo

The following staff have successfully renewed their certification:

• Leal: LaDonna Helm and Jodi Miller
• Urbana High School: Kim Summers and Felicia Tufano

Congratulations to all of you on this significant achievement.

Ms. Katie Madigan will serve as the next principal of Urbana Early Childhood School (UECS). Madigan currently serves as the Assistant Principal at UECS and Elementary Special Education Facilitator.

RSP gave a 1st Read of its Boundary Analysis recommendation and an overview of the latest survey results.

Survey #2 had 527 responses. There was increased participation from a wider variety of stakeholders compared to the first survey.

• Concept 2 had more support in this survey
• Of the respondents that indicated they have students in a Dual Language program, Concept 1 received more support

• 73 people did not provide an answer to this question (Unknown concept support)

Survey #1 (February 28 to March 15):

• Concept 1 was slightly more favored in total respondents
• Sample size was too small to make statistically definitive statements
• More engagement with community was needed to provide deeper analysis

Survey #2 (March 26 to April 1):

• Concept 2 was more favored in total respondents
• There was increased participation in 2nd survey
• Concept 1 was more favored in specific sub-groups

Note: Many comments from public input (in-person and surveys) request changes to boundary concepts that fall outside of the board guidelines for this process.

Concept 1

Yankee Ridge Elementary transitions to Dual Language School (French and Spanish)

• Current Yankee Ridge boundary is redistributed to other schools
• Boundary islands are reduced creating more neighborhood centric boundaries
• Over-capacity challenges at Dr. Williams are addressed
• 352 K-4th grade students are potentially impacted in this concept (20.9% of population). 41 of those students are former Wiley students who now attend Yankee Ridge
• All schools are reduced to below the max capacity and are near the target capacity (75%)
• Dr. Preston Williams Elementary school is forecasted to be below 70% of the max capacity from 2024/25 to 2027/28

Concept 2

Thomas Paine Elementary transitions to Dual Language School (French and Spanish)

• Current Thomas Paine boundary is redistributed to other schools
• Boundary islands are reduced creating more neighborhood centric boundaries
• Over-capacity challenges at Dr. Preston Williams are addressed
• 381 K-4th grade students are potentially impacted in this concept (22.6% of population). 115 of those students are former Wiley students who now attend Thomas Paine.
• All schools are reduced to below the max capacity and are near the target capacity (75%)
• King, Leal, and Thomas Paine elementary schools are forecasted to be below 70% of the max capacity in at least one of the five projected years

Conclusion (RSP)

The data would best support Concept 1 for the Dual Language Program and the projected enrollments and the students impacted. Some of it you can explicitly see with the data, some of it gets into the function of the building.

Next Steps: The Board is expected to vote on a final boundary plan at the April 16 meeting.

View the full presentation

Question: How would redistricting effect the FRL (Free and Reduced Lunch) percentage at each school?

Answer: We are a CEP district, which means every student in our District is eligible for FRL. (CEP means we meet a certain threshold of FRL students Districtwide.)

Q: With the goal of keeping the Dr. Williams capacity under 450 [students], do the projections over the next five years show there is going to be growth in that neighborhood that could push that school over that number?

A: There is a lot of migration in areas of USD, specifically the east side. We have tried to model what that movement could mean for the numbers. We have tried to address is that there is some flexibility in what the building can house. (i.e. Some years it may be 450, 440 or 470 -- the building can house 500)

Q: With concept 1, how does that benefit students in the Dual Language Program in terms of how much time they are on a bus?

A: We try to keep all of our routes under an hour, the changes won't change that, we hope it will make it even shorter.

Q: Is there any estimate in terms of what it would cost to add amenities for the Special Education Programs currently at Thomas Paine to another building? (If the board votes for Concept 2).

A: We would have to retrofit a couple of the classroom spaces and add sensory spaces. There is an adaptive playground at Thomas Paine that we would have to replicate. We can ask our architect to give us some numbers in terms of cost.

Q: If the Board decides to go with Concept 1, what is the plan for the students in the Intensive Instructional Program currently at Yankee Ridge?

A: The Intensive Instruction Program currently occupies two classrooms at Yankee Ridge. Once decisions are made and a boundary plan is approved, we will assess the space available in other schools without “special programs” as an option to house the program

Q: How would the numbers look if we decided to make Wiley a dual language program?

A: It would cost more money to convert Wiley to a Dual Language School compared to a 6th Grade Center. It would also add another $1 million to our operating costs every year, to have a sixth elementary school.

Q: Are we doing anything to address the behavior issues at UMS?

A: We have been working with administration to address the issues and support culture and climate. It is really hard with the number of substitutes in that building. We also have 920 students in that space and we are trying to bring forward a different option to address some of the needs.

Q: We need to provide a plan for how we are going to support the students and teachers who will be impacted by whichever concept we decide.

A: We will support our school administrators in providing community building activities and we also plan to give families an opportunity to tour the schools and meet teachers.

Dr. Ivory-Tatum's Superintendent Report is available here: April 2, 2024

Highlights:

• Summer Programs
• Thomas Paine teacher selected as Teacher of the Month
• Board of Education Vacancy: Application deadline is April 3 at 4:30 p.m.

The Student Ambassador Report is available here: April 2 Student Ambassador Report

Highlights:

• UHS students are giving positive feedback around the lunch options and Quest.
• Mayoral Recognition Program is May 8