The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871

The Daily Illini

The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871

The Daily Illini

The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871

The Daily Illini

The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871

The Daily Illini

Unit 4 School District addresses issues of equity among students

The Champaign Community Unit School District 4 established a new “Education Equity Excellence Committee” Monday.

Applications from community members were due Nov. 3 and on Monday, the Board of Education voted on which members would become part of the committee.

The committee will consist of representatives from the Board of Education, a district employee representative, a union representative and the Superintendent. The 10 selected community member representatives were agreed on unanimously at the Board of Education meeting.

Dorland Norris, Deputy Superintendent for Equity, said the committee is a result of the settlement agreement of the 2002 Consent Decree that ended June 30. The decree discussed the district’s overrepresentation of minorities in special education programs and the low graduation rates of minorities.

The EEE committee discusses equality issues in areas such as academic progress, special education, gifted, AP/Honors, the Academic Academy, attendance rates, discipline rates and graduation rates, according to a press release.

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A large focus of the committee is to ensure that the boards listen to the concerns from minority community members.

Lily Jimenez, bilingual teacher in the Urbana School District, is one of the selected community members. She said she sees her role in the committee as being a connection to the Latino community.

“Part of the consent decree did talk about minority families, but I really also felt that it needed to discuss Latino families as well,” she said.

Jimenez said she has already spoken with many Latino families and has found they do not understand how to receive resources from the school district.

“The biggest issues I’ve heard from families are the issues of interpreters for events like open houses and registration,” she added.

Despite there being three applicants as of Oct. 31, District Superintendent Arthur Culver said there were over 30 applicants to choose from by the Nov. 3 deadline.

“I thought we ended up with a very strong pool of candidates with a lot of different experiences,” board member Tommy Lockman said. “We’ve got a lovely continuum of people and I think that’s what this committee is all about.”

The settlement agreement required that the committees meets twice a year, Norris said. However, the members agreed to meet four times a year to increase communication within the community.

After all community members accept their positions, the committee will meet to establish specific focus groups and a task force.

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