USD116 BOE Update: May 7, 2024

The Human Resources Department presented the 2024 USD116 Unsung Hero Awards. These employees were nominated by their colleagues for their significant contributions to the District.

• See the list of awardees here
• Watch the video

The Farm to School Leadership Team gave an end of year review of the program. Farm to School addresses youth food insecurity and provides new educational opportunities through a three-pronged approach.

Garden update:

There are school gardens at each school now. Urbana Middle School started their garden this year and students in the Garden Club helped build it and now assist in maintaining it.

Classroom and garden kits

• These were rolled out in September for pre-K through 5th in September 2023
• UMS kits are coming soon

Local food systems directory: This was created and distributed to all schools, to help teachers make connections with those working in local foods to be guest speakers or for field trip destinations.

Next steps:

• Continue to work with Quest to get more local food on the lunch line.
• Continue to encourage teachers to help their students make connections to the gardens and to use the gardens in their lessons where applicable.

Q: Is there the possibility of workshops with families to learn about gardens or community gardens?

A: We will bring that up at our next leadership team meeting.

View the full presentation

Committee Purpose: To establish and monitor goals and objectives for the District’s schools, specific and appropriate for each instructional unit, for each of the content-specific components listed in the School Wellness Policy:

• School Meals
• Nutrition Promotion
• Nutrition Education
• Physical Activity
• Other Wellness Initiatives
• Community Engagement

A few of the 2023-24 Goals:

• Completed the RFP process to the 2024-25 food vendor
• Menu planning feedback meetings: Quest held meetings with each level to gather feedback on the menus
• Reduce food waste/Unused Food Sharing Plan - this will be a high priority goal to accomplish in the next year.
  
• Promote Wellness Policy awareness: participated in school events
• Focused on mental health and provided staff training opportunities to support student access to healthcare services at the School Health Center and CUPHD District

Q: What kind of communication is there for students on the mental health piece?

A: CUPHD offered a QR code for services and also provided a lot of other resources. We are still working through how to share it.

Q: Are the requests from the students during the menu feedback sessions reasonable?

A: They have been reasonable and Quest has been very responsive to making changes.

View the full presentation

Several USD116 Administrators gave the Board an update on the Consolidated District Plan (CDP) for federal grants. For Federal Entitlement Grants, we are required to have a plan developed before completing individual grant applications for FY25.

What is in the Consolidated District Plan?

• Summary of district’s needs assessment
• Stakeholder engagement activities summary
• Non-public school consultation information
• Plans to support students’ academic, social emotional, and linguistic development
• Plans to support teachers’ professional development
• Plans to support parents and families
• Youth in Care Stability Plan
• Bilingual Services Plan

The CDP must be approved by ISBE before individual grants can be approved for FY25 (2024-25

School Year).This will be brought back on May 21 for Board approval.

Q: There are 12 instructional coaches as part of Title I part A -- are these instructional coaches working with the teachers?

A: These are instructional coaches working with the teachers. Next year it will likely be the Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 roles. There won't be instructional coaches next year, but there will be different levels of instructional support.

Q: How many kids can participate in Kindergarten Readiness and 1st Grade Jump Start?

A: 3 classrooms for each program -- so a total of 60 kids in each program.

View the full presentation and CDP

New SEL Curriculum

Urbana families, staff members, and community partners were invited to join the district’s Social Emotional Learning/SEL Curriculum Committee to provide input on potential social emotional learning programs.

The SEL Curriculum Committee selected Inner Explorer, Second Step, and 7 Mindsets to pilot during the 2024-25 school year. All three programs are available in English and Spanish for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Note: The committee was unable to locate social emotional learning programs available in English, Spanish, and French.

• Teachers will volunteer to pilot one of the three programs for the full 2024-25 school year.

• Teachers who are not piloting a program will continue to use their school’s current social emotional learning program.

• Teacher, student, and family input will be used as part of the decision making process to select a district wide curriculum for the 2025-2026 school year.

Q: What is the process for the evaluation of the program?

A: We will meet once a quarter and talk about what worked best in the classroom.

Q: What is the long-term cost to the District?

A: It will be a yearly fee because they are all digital. We will have to pay a small fee for each of the pilots.

Q: How will it be implemented in the middle school and high school?

A: In the middle school it will be during advisory. We are still working with the schedule at the high school.

View the full presentation

11.1 Renewal of MTD Contract Approved

11.2 6th Grade Center - Switchgear Approved

Dr. Ivory-Tatum's Superintendent Report is available here: May 7, 2024

Highlights:

• Teacher/Staff appreciation week
• Mayoral Recognition Program is May 8
• Online Registration is open for returning students

The Student Ambassador Report is available here: May 7, 2024