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Our kids deserve a smarter solution.
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REMIND Announcement
Unit 4 Board of Education Meets TONIGHT!
11 - 14 - 2022
The ๐จ๐ก๐๐ง #๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ ๐๐๐จ๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ก๐ is TONIGHT! We hope to see you there.
NOVEMBER 14th - Public Session begins at 6 ๐ฃ๐
(Televised on Cable Channel 5, or found here on the Unit 4 website)
๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฏ ๐ฆ. ๐ก๐ฒ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐, ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ป, IL 61820
Though the districtโs timeline for changes to the school assignment/reassignment process has been altered, according to Superintendent Boozerโs latest email communication, it is important to continue to engage in conversations and offer feedback. Please make your voice heard and make a public comment at tonightโs meeting! Share your opinions, speak to the impact of the school assignment/reassignment process and proposals on your family and our greater community, ask questions, and call for greater transparency and stakeholder input in the process, including a Community-Led Steering Committee!
There will be some families meeting outside the Mellon Building for a meet and greet beginning at 6pm. Warm drinks will be provided.
NOTES: The BOE meeting begins at 6pm but the public comments section follows a number of agenda items. Tonightโs agenda can be found at https://go.boarddocs.com/il/champil/Board.nsf/public under <Meetings> and <Nov 14, 2022 (Mon)>.
Information for Public Comment (for agenda and non-agenda items):
๐ฏEach person is limited to three minutes.
๐ฏPublic comment represents the voice and opinion of the speaker.
๐ฏThere will be no feedback from the board members during the meeting.
๐ฏPublic comments submitted in writing for Unit 4 School Board meetings are welcomed at U4BOE@u4sd.org .
๐ฏEmails specified as "public comments" are posted in the public comment area of the agenda for public review and included in each meetingโs official minutes.
Listen as Cynthia Bruno, co-founder of Unit 4 Families for a Smarter Solution, speaks to Brain Barnhart and a handful of community callers, on the podcast Penny for Your Thoughts. You can listen to the 10-27-22 episode here, or on Apple Podcasts. Cynthia speaks just after the 45-min mark of the podcast.
What's Next?
Wow! We are over 1K strong in members in U4 Families for a Smarter Solution on Facebook! What an amazing community we have been able to create and cultivate in a relative short amount of time! We are so thankful you are all a part of the conversations. It truly "Takes a Village!"
You might be asking, "What now? How can I get involved? How can I make my voice heard?" Since Cooperative Strategies is at the end of their feedback collection process, we are sharing additional ways to get involved.
SHOW UP TO THE UNIT#4 BOARD
OF EDUCATION MEETING
OF EDUCATION MEETING
NOVEMBER 14th at 6P๐
๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฏ ๐ฆ. ๐ก๐ฒ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐, ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ป
**Cooperative Strategies, LLC. is set to share their "final proposed scenario(s)" to the BOE during this meeting. These decisions will impact up to 90% of our children! Come listen and then share your voice and make a public comment!
Public Comment (for agenda and non-agenda items): Each person is limited to three minutes. Public comment represents the voice and opinion of the speaker. There will be no feedback from the board members during the meeting.
Public comments submitted in writing for Unit 4 School Board meetings are welcomed at U4BOE@u4sd.org . Emails specified as public comments are posted in the public comment area of the agenda for public review and included in each meetingโs official minutes.
CONTACT THE UNIT#4 Board
of Education
of Education
Contact each BOE Member to share your opinions, speak to the impact on your family and our greater community, ask questions, and call for greater transparency and stakeholder input in the process.
You can contact the BOE at the following:
Shelia Boozer
boozersh@u4sd.org
Kathy Shannon
shannoka@u4sd.org
Amy Armstrong
armstram@u4sd.org
Chris Kloeppel
kloeppch@u4sd.org
Elizabeth Sotiropoulis
sotiroel@u4sd.org
Gianina Baker
bakerga@u4sd.org
Bruce Brown
brownbru@u4sd.org
Heather Vazquez
vazquehe@u4sd.org
RUn for
school board
school board
Are you passionate about children and our community?
Are you a flexible thinker?
Are you willing to engage various stakeholders with an open mind?
๏ธConsider running for school board! There will be a few seats open in the Spring 2023 election.
Let us know by e-mailing hello@unit4families.com if you have interest or know someone interested. We can help provide support in navigating the nomination process and petitioning the community.
Nominating petitions can be submitted as early as Dec. 12 and as late as Dec. 19, 2022.
Stay Informed.
Get involved.
Get involved.
Please sign up for our Unit 4 Families for a Smarter Solution Remind account to receive crucial and time-sensitive information sent directly to your phone via text message. To sign up, text @unite4kids to 81010 or to (469) 437 - 4632.
Feel free to download the PDF of the flyer distributed at the Community Meeting on 10.02.
At the bottom of this site, you will find the "COMMUNITY INPUT FORM" that was also distributed. We encourage you to fill this out online and submit your thoughts and feedback.
*PLEASE REMEMBER* this community input form is not affiliated with the Cooperative Strategies Survey and we encourage you to submit that survey as well.
Two elementary student assignment scenarios were presented to the Unit 4 Board of Education on September 26th, 2022 by the hired firm, Cooperative Strategies, LLC.
The Unit 4 Board of Education timeline shows that they plan to vote on the new student assignment model in December 2022.
In these scenarios, 60-90% of ALL Unit 4 elementary school students will be FORCED to attend an elementary school, other than the one they are currently attending, beginning with NEXT YEAR, the '23-'24 school year.
Scenario 1 would pair two sets of schools to create four grade level centers, and draw fixed boundaries around the remaining elementary schools. Students would be assigned to schools based on these geographic boundaries. "Sister Schools" would have combined boundaries, where students in the combined boundary would attend one school for grades K-2, and the other for grades 3-5. "Islands," or detached areas, are used to better balance diversity in schools. Students in an "Island" would attend a specific school within that Island boundary.
*with this option students would attend one school for K-2 and another school for 3-5, the grade level/school assignment has not yet been determined.
Sister Schools:
Barkstall ES & Stratton ES
Booker T. Washington ES & Carrie Busey ES
Scenario 2 would maintain a model of "Schools of Choice," but choice would be limited to four schools, based on a predetermined "Cluster." Clusters are larger geographic boundaries. Please refer to the table for details the school choices available in each cluster. Students would have the choice between the four schools that fall within their cluster, rank those schools in order of choice preference, and then be assigned to a school using an algorithm by the school district.
Visit the Cooperative Strategies School Locator & enter in your address to find the proposed assignments specific to your current address.
#1 WAY to HELP - VOICE YOUR OPINION
These decisions will impact up to 90% of our children!
"In the spring of 2021, the Champaign Unit 4 Schools began a process to analyze the existing elementary student assignment plan, as well as explore alternatives to the current schools of choice model" (Cooperative Strategies, 2022).
Please take a moment to review the two proposed Cooperative Strategies scenarios
and then, complete the Cooperative Strategies Community Feedback Survey. This survey is only available through the month of October.
Two elementary student assignment scenarios were presented to the Unit 4 Board of Education on September 26th, 2022.
In these scenarios, 60-90% of ALL Unit 4 elementary school students will be FORCED to attend a different elementary school beginning with NEXT YEAR, the '23-'24 school year.
Here is a link to Cooperative Strategies, LLC., 268 pg. PDF document "Request For Proposals - Demographic Study For Champaign Community Unit School District #4."
STAY INFORMED
Visit the Cooperative Strategies website for more information on the proposed scenarios.
Read the full text proposal from Cooperative Strategies to "provide demographic services and analysis" to Unit 4 in relation to school boundary changes.
Are you curious as to where your child would attend school with these new plans?
Visit the Cooperative Strategies School Locator & enter in your address to find the proposed assignments specific to your current address.
*Please note, it has not yet been determined which school in the "Sister School" scenario will be K-2 and which will be 3-5.
READ DR BOOZER'S EMAILS
The following are correspondence emails sent from Dr. Shelia Boozer on September 27, 2022 following the presentation that was made by Cooperative Strategies during the September 26, 2022 BOE meeting.
We want to hear from the community! Our collective voice is important and powerful and the community needs to know how the proposed scenarios might impact your family, your child(ren)/students, and your everyday lives.
How would these reassignment models directly impact your family and your everyday life? Please take a moment to share your story here.
REDISTRICTING in the NEWS
Check out some local coverage on Unit 4's plan to redistrict:
Parents Concerned About Unit 4's New Student Placement Proposals
Unit 4 Parents Begin Grassroots Movement to Address Schools of Choice Change
Unit 4 Shares Details of Focus Groups on Elementary Selection Process: 22 Meetings Over Two Weeks
Consultant Presents Replacement Options for Champaign's Schools of Choice Program to Board
The Future of Unit 4 Elementary Selection (20 Things We Know So Far)
"There's got to be a better way." Concerned Families Discuss Potential Changes in Champaign Schools.
IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES
Monday, November 14th, 2022 at 6PM - Unit 4 Board of Education Meeting at Mellon Administration Center (703 S. New Street)
MORE TBA
YARD SIGNS
Would you like to show your support of the Unit 4 Families for a Smarter Solution? Please fill out the form below and we will deliver one to your yard.
This website and organization is not affiliated with or endorsed by Unit 4 or Cooperative Strategies. The opinions represented on this page are solely the opinions of the individuals that provided them and do not represent the opinions of any organizations, companies, etc that said individuals might be associated with.