USD116 BOE Update: June 4, 2024

The General Assembly passed legislation impacting several Board Policy areas.

• View the PRESS Plus 114 Policies
• View the PRESS Plus 114 Policy Review

Approval will be requested during the June 18, 2024, business meeting.

Final approval will also be requested on June 18 for the Draft Educational Equity Policy.

School Resource Officers Chad Burnett (UHS) and Michelle Robinson (UMS) gave their year-end reviews.

The primary goal of the SRO Program is to maintain a safe learning environment, build positive relationships with our school communities, and strengthen police-community connections. SROs are trained to work with students and intervene only in specific high-threat situations. They do not engage in behavior matters with students.

SRO duties include, but are not limited to:

• Liaison between UPD and the schools to inform safety concerns and incidents happening after hours and on weekends
• Driver's Ed -- Distracted Driving Class and Business Law Class
• Member of School Threat Assessment Teams
• Member of District Crisis Committee and School Crisis Teams
• Resource for students navigating the court system and legal questions

The update included a breakdown of incidents that led to police reports, items confiscated, student interactions, student transports, collaborations with the social work team, etc.

Q: How are these numbers (at UHS) compared to last year?

A: We had 64 fights this year compared to last year at 110 fights. The overall atmosphere is much better this year than the past two years. - SRO Burnett.

While there has been a large number of fights at UMS, there has been a big change from years past. There also has been growth in trust and relationships between families/parents and the SROs. Overall, the environment at UMS was much calmer this year.

Q: How did the K9 sweeps go...were they effective?

A: It was very quick, it went well. It was just a sweep of the lockers at UHS and those are not the primary source of storage for high school students. Most carry their bags. It was more a deterrent.

At UMS we intentionally did the sweep after we implemented the no backpack policy -- so we knew their bags would be in their locker. This was another layer to deter students from bringing items (vapes/drug paraphernalia) into the middle school. The sweeps were a good deterrent at both UMS and UHS.

Q: Are the detectors at UMS used all day or just in the morning on arrival?

A: They are used in the morning for students. If it beeps for an adult coming into the building during they day, the should be going directly to the office. The detectors are mainly to deter students from bringing items into the school that shouldn't be there.

Q: What is the consequence if a student comes to school intoxicated?

A: That student does not get to stay in the building. A parent/guardian has to come and get them, they cannot leave on their own. Depending on the number of offenses, they may get additional supports or other consequences. It is very individualized.

View the presentation

The Board was presented an overview of the District’s end-of-the-year, student achievement and student growth benchmark data.

Systems

District SMART Goal #1: Each school will exhibit fair or above as measured by the four key

areas of Panorama Student Success.

• Summary: We were successful in the areas of Academics, Behavior, and SEL however did not meet our goal in the area of attendance. Districtwide we created attendance plans and focused on students who were chronically absent and attempted to engage them in school. We will continue to create interventions and support plans for next year.

Student Voice

District SMART Goal #2: Increase participation rates among secondary students. (For Panorama Surveys)

• Summary: The middle school and high school increased their participation rates (over last year).

Teaching and Learning

District SMART Goal #3: Through intentional goal setting, students will exceed beyond their projected annual growth. Every grade level will make positive growth for the 2023-2024 school year.

• Summary: Overall, 42% of students in grades K-12 made their projected growth in math, 40% in reading, and 36% in Spanish reading. (We recognize there is still room for growth)

District SMART Goal#4: Be intentional with outreach to engage all families and community outside of the district staff with varying options in location to participate and remove possible barriers for attendance.

• Summary: Need to continue to think outside the box to increase attendance for our family/community events. (Next year we are going to shift back to engaging families more at the building level versus the District-level.)

Professional Development

District SMART Goal#5: Ensure all staff are provided with various learning opportunities for growth on the varying learning needs of students that contribute to educational equity.

• There were four staff development days and Winter Institute this year.

Building Administrators from Gerber, UMS and UHS also reviewed their progress on current school improvement plans. You can view their progress in the presentation.

View the full presentation

Q: Are the goals for next year going to be similar or different?

A: The District is shifting to a new template for goals next year. The new goals will be presented in the Fall. We are creating three goals -- for Language Arts, Math and Chronic Absenteeism.

The Board of Education set the meeting dates and start time for the 2024-25 school year. Starting in August 2024, the Board of Education meetings will begin at 6 p.m.

The finalized Board calendar will be presented at the June 18 Board Meeting.

There will be a special meeting on June 25, 2024. The Board will vote on the bidding documents for the proposed 6th Grade Center and approve a tentative budget for the 2024-25 school year.

Dr. Ivory-Tatum's Superintendent Report is available here: June 4, 2024

Highlights:

• Summer Meals start June 10
• Register your returning student(s)
• July 29: Registration assistance for Spanish and French speaking families: 3-7 p.m. at Yankee Ridge
• Centralized Registration for new families at Urbana Middle School: July 30 from 2 to 6 p.m. and July 31 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.