Garden Hills Elementary School parents, neighbors and Champaign community members said they opposed a proposal that would swap the school’s campus in north Champaign with the International Prep Academy — the district’s bilingual program. A diverse crowd packed the Garden Hills cafeteria for a listening and information session hosted by Champaign Unit 4 Superintendent Susan…
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois lawmakers on Tuesday grilled officials about the practice of locking kids in “seclusion rooms” in schools. It’s the first legislative hearing since a news report brought attention to the practice late last year. The story, from ProPublica Illinois and the Chicago Tribune, revealed thousands of incidents in which kids with special needs were…
PALATINE – A more than four year fight to secure equal access to locker rooms for transgender students in a north suburban Chicago school district ended Tuesday when a new policy allowing them unrestricted access took effect. The Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 board voted 5-2 in favor of the policy change in November, WLS-TV…
A University of Illinois law professor accused of sexual misconduct had been slated to return to teach in January. But he will instead be placed on “university-sanctioned leave.” In fall of last year, details of a U of I investigation into claims of sexual misconduct against Jay Kesan were made public by the media. Amid…
MONDAY 4:00 p.m. update: The News-Gazette reports that a University of Illinois police officer pleaded not guilty to seven charges of misconduct in court today. Jerald Sandage is accused of misusing law enforcement databases and security cameras to find personal information about women on and off the U of I’s Urbana campus. Sandage has been…
During their Tuesday evening meeting, the Urbana School District 116 Board of Education reaffirmed its decision to hire two full-time school resource officers (SRO), including one each for Urbana Middle and High Schools.
To solve a host of problems the district faces, Champaign Unit 4 Schools officials recently proposed swapping two elementary school campuses. At a Unit 4 Board of Education meeting Monday night, the district’s superintendent, Susan Zola, suggested moving the International Prep Academy (IPA), a kindergarten through fifth grade bilingual program with majority Hispanic enrollment located on West…
The Illinois Department of Corrections has revised its publication review policy to include a centralized appeal process for incarcerated people who feel they’ve been unfairly denied access to certain reading materials. The policy change comes after Illinois Newsroom reported the removal of more than 200 books, most about race, from a college-in-prison program’s library inside the…
Yuliana Quintana worries she won’t succeed in college because she didn’t have access to lab equipment, Advanced Placement classes, and other resources…
A new report from a University of Illinois panel on faculty misconduct seeks a broader definition of sexual harassment and more transparency. But a university spokesperson couldn’t say when the reforms would be adopted or how much they would cost. This article was produced in partnership with the ProPublica Local Reporting Network . The University of Illinois…
An administrator resigned amid sexual harassment accusations. Another college hired him. A professor was found to have stalked a coworker. She agreed to…
Dianne Gordon, a mom who lives in Champaign, knew something was wrong with her daughter Rory the minute she stepped off the school bus one afternoon in…
When José moved his family to the U.S. from Mexico nearly two decades ago, he had hopes of giving his children a better life. But now he worries for the future of his 21-year-old-son, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder last year. José said his son was a happy child who loved playing with…
The Illinois Department of Corrections requested a massive increase in funding for educational supplies as part of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s state budget proposal. The request is a departure from prior years, and comes after Illinois Newsroom reported last spring that the agency spent less than $300 on books across more than two dozen prison facilities…
Melissa Esparza fled her home in west suburban Chicago two years ago. Then 16, she said her parents became physically violent after years of verbal…