Unit 5 parents can expect a new line of communication next school year.
The Unit 5 school board on Wednesday approved a roughly $180,000, three-year contract with ParentSquare to be the district’s universal communications platform.
It replaces SchoolMessenger and TalkingPoints in that category, saving an estimated $28,212 in expected costs for the next school year. ParentSquare provides notification via text, email, app and web. It also provides support for translation in more than 190 languages, two-way communication between families and staff, emergency and mass alerts, tools for sign-ups and permission slips and more. Prospective families and alumni also can sign up for notifications.
“We heard from our parents that we want a more cohesive way to get communication, and I think we found a tool that can do that,” said Unit 5 spokesperson Dayna Brown.
At the elementary level, ParentSquare can be used, but will not entirely replace Class Dojo that has received positive feedback regarding its effectiveness with younger students.
Budget update
Also Wednesday, the school board heard a budget update presentation from Financial Services Director Tom Hoerr and CFO Marty Hickman. The presentation compared revenues from the 2025 levy year taxes to projections set in the 2026 budget in the educational, operations and maintenance, transportation and tort funds.
Between the four categories, the district is netting slightly more money in the amended budget than anticipated in the original.
Transportation funds proration was still lower than last fiscal year, but the state was projected to reimburse about $270,000 more than Unit 5 expected in the budget. The working cash transfer fund went from a slight surplus to a deficit by adding $4.2 million for a new bus purchase and another $800,000 in ongoing operations costs.
The school board also listened to a number of good news reports. These included the Normal West mock trial team finishing 16th at nationals, the Unit 5 Esports team winning state in MarioKart 8 and an Energy Star Certification for energy efficiency at Normal Community High School.
