DECATUR – Decatur’s new superintendent has just finished one week on the job. Rochelle Clark steps into the top position in Decatur Public Schools at a challenging time in education. Schools are trying to catch up students who fell behind during remote learning, while both adults and children grapple with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. “In…
CHAMPAIGN — Champaign Unit 4 teachers have voted to authorize a strike rather than accept a recent contract offered by the district. If negotiations falter over the next month and teachers do strike, families may suddenly need to find childcare. One place families can turn for help is the Child Care Resource Service. Based on…
URBANA — For more than 5-years, Dr. Robert Jones has served as Chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is a native of Georgia, a parent, and a grandparent. He has earned multiple advanced degrees in crop physiology. And he was a member of a Grammy award-winning vocal ensemble. On Jan. 31, Illinois Newsroom’s…
CHAMPAIGN — Three faculty members at the University of Illinois have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering. They are among 111 new members and 22 international members elected this year. They will be formally inducted in October in Washington, D.C. The new members from Illinois are William Hammack, Youssef Hashash and Klara Nahrstedt….
CHAMPAIGN — Governor J.B. Pritzker visited the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus on Wednesday to promote an increase in student financial aid in his proposed budget for fiscal year 2023. Pritzker highlighted his plan to send a total of $601 million to the state’s Monetary Award Program to help low-income college students with tuition and…
CHAMPAIGN — Two weeks after Champaign teachers voted to allow a potential strike, one parent is experiencing déjà vu. Amy Dunn was in sixth grade in 1986 when negotiations broke down between Homer teachers and their school board. Teachers went on a strike that lasted eight months – possibly the longest teachers’ strike in U.S….
URBANA – Decatur Public Schools has a new superintendent. On Tuesday night, the board of education appointed Dr. Rochelle Clark as District 61’s new leader. Clark started her career in 1992 as a special education teacher’s aide and worked her way up to assistant principal at three Decatur schools. She also served as assistant superintendent of…
DANVILLE – A clinic for addiction and mental health treatment could open in Danville High School by the end of March. Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation has agreed to run the clinic. Danville School District 118 is renovating the school’s basement as the clinic’s future home. Deanna Witzel is a McDonald’s owner and operator. She also…
For Thursday, February 17 closure information, visit here URBANA — Many cities, schools and other organizations are announcing closings and cancellations because of heavy snow in central Illinois. We will include as many of them as possible in this article, organized by location. The following closures are for Friday, February 4: University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign…
URBANA – A study by the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools finds that 88 percent of schools say they have a teacher shortage. Seventy-seven percent report the problem is getting worse. And more than 90 percent of Illinois districts expect it to get worse for the next two years. Champaign and Ford County…
CHAMPAIGN — Champaign teachers are willing to strike to protest Unit 4’s latest contract offer. That contract would extend the elementary school day by 50 minutes, starting in the fall of 2023. On Wednesday, about 700 Unit 4 teachers gathered at Jefferson Middle School in Champaign. 91 percent voted to authorize their union to strike….
CHAMPAIGN – More than 350 Champaign teachers rallied on Monday over contract negotiations, and they will vote on Wednesday about authorizing a strike. At issue — whether Unit 4 should extend the elementary school day. Contract negotiations between the Unit 4 School District and the Champaign Federation of Teachers have stalled in recent weeks. The…
CHAMPAIGN – Cooks and custodians at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana say the univeristy rejected their proposal this week for stricter safety measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Dena Gary is a head cook at the University of Illinois and the president of the Champaign-Urbana chapter of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73. She and other…
It’s no secret that some underage students at the University of Illinois like to drink at nearby Campustown bars, and that those under 21 have ample opportunity to violate the law at Campustown bars. But throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Champaign Police Department has made it even easier for minors to get away with underage…
URBANA — The University of Illinois is expecting a surge of COVID-19 cases as students return to Champaign-Urbana for the spring semester. The goal now is to prevent those who have caught COVID from spreading the virus further, according to epidemiology assistant professor Rebecca Smith. “We really encourage people to be cautious over the next…