Kristen Weikle

Unit 5 Superintendent Kristen Weikle provided updates about the Normal-based school district during an interview on WGLT's Sound Ideas.

Superintendent Kristen Weikle told the board she intends to retire at the end of the 2029-30 school year. That would take her to the end of the five-year contract the board approved in August.

District 87 changed its policy for Bloomington High School that bans cell phones throughout the school day. Unit 5 refreshed its policy to keep student phones away during class in all but a few circumstances.

Chief Financial Officer Marty Hickman presented an outline of the budget for the 2026 fiscal year during Wednesday's school board meeting.

The Trump administration is withholding billions of dollars in grant funding for schools across the U.S. The Unit 5 school district is waiting on almost $1 million.

Public school educators got some of what they wanted in the new state budget, but McLean County superintendents say there are still some issues left unresolved — such as transportation costs.

The district's phone policy was updated in a revision to Unit 5’s student behavior code.

The revenue from the countywide sales tax will help to pay the debt off, but that will not roll in before the summer when repairs are most needed.

The Bloomington-Normal branch of the NAACP held an election forum on Saturday that included the candidates for the municipal election on April 1, as well as information on the proposed countywide school sales tax referendum.

The Unit 5 and District 87 school boards and several other districts in McLean County have voted to put a sales tax referendum on the April 1 ballot. The proposed 1% sales tax would raise money for school facilities, school resource officers, and mental health programming.