Unit 5 is anticipating next year to look a lot more like a regular school year. But that may not be good news for all families.
Superintendent Kristen Weikle said a resolution passed last week by the Illinois State Board of Education directs schools to resume full in-person learning in the fall. That means the vast majority of students will be expected to return to the classroom, leaving very limited options for remote learning.
Speaking to the Unit 5 school board Wednesday night, Weikle said during the 2020-21 school year, families who had concerns about COVID could choose remote learning. That won’t be the case next year.
“Based on the resolution that the ISBE approved last week, we don’t have that option as a school district,” Weikle said.
Instead, remote learning will be limited to a very small group of students who meet specific medical criteria. Weikle said she expected that less than 1% of students in the district will be eligible under the ISBE guidelines.
For those students who are eligible, remote learning will be very different than what they may have experienced during the 2020-21 school year. PreK-5 learners will likely have limited hours of teacher-led instruction — a change from the five hours of daily instruction offered this year. Students in grades 6-12 will have no direct teacher instruction. Their work will be completed through online platforms and monitored by a Unit 5 teacher.
Given those changes, Weikle said, a higher degree adult of supervision and support will be necessary to support remote learners in the coming school year.
2020-21 amended budget
Unit 5 chief financial officer Marty Hickman said that despite a year filled with uncertainty, the district's overall budget “tracked as expected.”
Hickman noted one major change in the amended budget came from the sale of $5.15 million in working cash bonds earlier this year, accounting for a small surplus. However the district continues to operate with a nearly $13 million structural deficit that predates the pandemic.
The final budget will be presented to the school board for approval in June.
