Tag: jennifer ivory-tatum

Urbana schools debate renewing police officer contracts

URBANA — Urbana School District 116 is debating whether to keep police officers in its schools for another three years. Staff and students want them to stay, according to limited survey data and anecdotes from students, teachers and administrators. Taren Nance is the principal at Urbana High School. He says students trust the officer at

Urbana Middle School to stay remote this week

URBANA, Jan. 11 — Urbana Middle School will stay with remote instruction for the rest of this week. Absences among staff at Urbana Middle School pushed the school to go virtual this week. District 116 Superintendent Jennifer Ivory-Tatum says she doesn’t expect other Urbana schools to go virtual. “Even before Thanksgiving, we have been doing

Urbana school district sets five-day quarantine policy. Unit 4 sticks with ten.

Students and staff at Urbana public schools only need to isolate for five days after testing positive for COVID-19. District 116 made the change on Monday, after federal, state and local public health agencies all greenlighted the new quarantine guidance. District 116 Superintendent Jennifer Ivory-Tatum said students and staff who are still sick with a

Urbana schools debate installing AI-powered metal detectors

URBANA — Urbana High School students and staff may soon walk through AI-powered metal detectors to get to class. The District 116 Board of Education spent Tuesday night debating whether to install the new technology, called Evolv Express. Superintendent Jennifer Ivory-Tatum told the board that rising community violence has left staff drained. “They’re doing patrolling

Urbana Schools Plan Return To In-Person Learning With COVID-19 Testing On-Site

URBANA – At least 1,300 students plan to return to Urbana classrooms later this month, according to data shared during an Urbana District 116 Board of Education study session Tuesday night. School officials say their safety plans will be bolstered by access to a rapid COVID antigen test — known as the BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag

Urbana Schools To Continue Remote Learning For Most Students Until At Least January

URBANA – Most Urbana District 116 students will continue to learn remotely — at least until January when the third quarter of the school year is scheduled to begin. The district initially recommended elementary school students move toward a hybrid schedule, which included in-person instruction in the morning hours four days per week, and remote