Unit 5 is updating a number of policies related to violence, bullying and discrimination in its schools.
The revisions were reviewed during a board meeting Wednesday night. The added language largely concerns reporting.
The first step in handling an incident of bullying will now be notifying a student's parent or guardian within 24 hours, followed by the former first step of investigating the report. The district’s policy on Targeted School Violence Prevention has been augmented to require district employees to report “expressed threats or behaviors that may represent a threat.”
A new supplementary policy on discrimination outlines prohibited conduct. It also encourages reports of behavior and requires employees receiving reports to provide them to appropriate administrators.
Superintendent Kristen Weikle said the policy changes are not a response to a particular incident or trend in Unit 5 schools specifically, but are updates to comply with state policy, adding Unit 5 often is already close to what new legislation requires.
“Fortunately here in Unit 5 we’re usually ahead of the curve, where we have similar language already embedded into our policy,” Weikle said. “But depending on how the legislation is written, we may have to use certain verbiage or create a separate policy.”
Normal West common areas
Also at Wednesday’s meeting, the board celebrated good news for the very school at which they met.
Educators at Normal West High School have been awarded a $10,000 grant from the Beyond the Books Educational Foundation. In a plan for the funds to be implemented next year, Normal West STEM teacher Dave Weber said a team of students will help redesign common areas to better suit the modern school day.
“The school day students experience today is very different from when this building was designed 30 years ago,” Weber said. “Blended courses, off-campus courses, virtual courses, none of these things were in existence or a thought 30 years ago.”
Weikle said the idea was encouraging, and that student input will be an important part of ensuring school buildings work well for all those attending in the future.
