Education and Family

Bells tolled at Northern Illinois University to mark the eighth anniversary of a campus shooting that left five students dead. Family members of the victims gathered Sunday afternoon at the DeKalb campus as bells rang at 3:06 p.m., the time a gunman opened fire in a Cole Hall classroom on Feb. 14, 2008. Roses, stuffed bears and crosses were placed at granite memorials on campus that bear each victim's name. Lorel Dubowski's daughter, Gayle Dubowski, died in the shooting. Dubowski's husband, son, granddaughter and a family friend came on Sunday.

Officials at Southern Illinois University say its Small Business Development Center will have to close next month because the state doesn't have a budget. The center uses grant money from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to help about 600 southern Illinois small businesses a year. The grant money hasn't been available since January, and the university has been funding it. Greg Bouhl is the center's director. He says the closing will be ``a big loss to the region.'' The center has six full-time staffers and several student workers.

The state of Illinois has not spent a penny since June to fund the Monetary Award Program, or MAP grants many students rely on. Kayra Ester is a student at Heartland Community College, where she told the audience she's also an employee at Heartland.

The Unit 5 Board of Education is preparing for the worst as the budget impasse in Springfield continues. The state has promised the unit at least $5 million in grants for transportation and special education, but there’s no guarantee those grants will come.

The Unit Five School District has been getting a lot of feedback on a survey of transportation options. Unit Five is trying to cut a million dollars from its transportation budget.

Even as the percentage of poorer students went up at Parkside Elementary School, test scores rose too. The school, and one in Chicago, are being honored for that accomplishment. Shelly Erickson was principal at the school during the years targeted by the board, she says teachers at Parkside used a new approach to reading.

Illinois State University President Larry Dietz says there will be no layoffs or furloughs on campus at least through the end of the school year.

Heartland Head Start says even though it is largely federally funded, the uncertain state financial situation has eroded its budget too.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor will appear at a public event next month at the University of Illinois in Champaign. The university's College of Law says she will conduct a wide-ranging hour-long discussion with Professor Robin B. Kar. The March 7 event is free, but tickets are required. Sotomayor joined the Supreme Court in 2009. She is the country's first Hispanic justice.

Some Illinois students are being left out of certain state exams under a new practice that gives school administrators flexibility to filter testing rosters. Federal law requires students be tested annually in reading, and at least once in math during high school.

A Chicago Tribune analysis shows that Illinois school officials are allowed to determine students' eligibility for the state's Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers exams based on particular course participation, and not grade level.

A life long Bloomington Normal area farmer has left Heartland Community College $1.5 million in his will. The largest ever donation to the community college in Normal comes from the estate of Raymond and Beulah Thompson. Second Cousin Brenda Thompson says they were a simple, unassuming couple who you'd never think of as wealthy.

Illinois State University says hover boards are too much of a fire risk. Eric Jome is the Director of ISU Media Relations. Hover boards are battery-operated, self-balancing scooters. Interim Vice President of Student Affairs Brent Paterson says that there have been a numerous cases of hover boards overheating and catching fire while charging.

The University of Illinois has now used 671 million dollars from its reserves to make up for a lack of state funding, due to the budget impasse in Springfield. That the word from U of I Chief Financial Officer Walter Knorr. He told U of I Trustees at their meeting in Chicago Thursday that the reserve funds spend include about 60-million dollars for the Monetary Awards Program, or MAP grants. For now, the university has taken care those grants for low-income students, but they could be asked to pay them back later. Knorr’s comments came on the same day Trustees voted to freeze tuition rates at current levels for the 2016-17 academic year. He says if there’s no state budget by May… the U of I needs to decides the future of those grants for the next fiscal year.