Education and Schools

Starting next fall, there’ll be no more sports or clubs for Unit 5 junior high students — no sports teams for freshmen, and no band/orchestra for fifth-graders.

Unit 5 has released Superintendent Kristen Weikle’s proposal for two years of budget cuts, which will be discussed at Tuesday’s school board meeting.

Susan Naber, a paraprofessional at Brigham Early Learning Center, was nominated by Gov. JB Pritzker for a national education award for her work setting young children with disabilities on a path to school success.

Illinois State University provost Aondover Tarhule says faculty are discouraged from allowing students to use the artificial intelligence platform ChatGPT as part of their coursework.

The Unit 5 school board spent more than three hours Wednesday digging into which stark cuts to potentially make — given the district’s $11 million deficit.

Heartland Community College has approved a new certification program for cannabis production and delivery.

Thomas Keyser will become the dean of the Illinois State University new engineering college in April. He currently serves as dean of the College of Engineering, Technology, and Management at the Oregon Institute of Technology.

The second Unit 5 tax referendum campaign in six months will be a lot more specific on what happens if it doesn't pass than the first one was. Before the failed November referendum, school district leaders said they didn't want to get into the details of what they would do if it failed because they wanted to make a positive case for preserving the schools as they are.

The ballooning mental health crisis affecting college students across the country has become a focal point of stalled faculty contract negotiations at the University of Illinois Chicago.

The Unit 5 school board voted Wednesday to return to voters in April with a referendum asking for an increase to a key fund’s tax rate.