Unit 5 School Board

The Unit 5 teacher’s union is opposed to the district’s decision to reject a Parkside Elementary learning behavior specialist’s resignation.

About two dozen public commenters, including a few current Carlock students, spoke during Wednesday's meeting.

The Unit 5 school board approved the 2025 tax levy and heard from concerned Carlock community members on Wednesday.

Unit 5 heard a first reading of its policy regarding law enforcement requests for student citizenship status information at Wednesday's meeting.

The forum hosted by Unit 5 and Cropper GIS laid out the criteria, process and timeline for the enrollment planning study, including a website, unit5enrollmentplanning.com, where interested parties can see progress and submit feedback.

At least eight community members spoke in support of Matt Chapman, a Normal Community High School civics teacher and girls soccer coach.

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

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.

Unit 5 adopted a standards-based practices model several years ago and is continuing to make improvements for teachers, students and parents. On Wednesday, presenters outlined the recommendations task forces made for elementary, middle and high schools.

Two resolutions before each district's respective school boards this week pledge that "not less than 33%" of the proceeds from a proposed 1% sales tax will be used to reduce the property tax rate for at least five years.