The Danville District 118 School Board has approved an agreement with the Danville Public Library that will allow all District 118 students library cards and access to library facilities. Assistant Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Yacobi says the library contacted her about this. Because after all, not every single 118 student lives within the Danville library’s district, so why not make sure they all can use it.
AUDIO: Jennifer Hess, who’s the director at Danville Public Library, really felt strongly that it could be a district wide approach to literacy, regardless of the taxing body. It’s not just a Danville thing or a Tilton thing, or a Newell Township thing. It’s that any student who attends District 118 can have access to the resources, the services, and the facities. It’s just a great governmental agreement.
Also during Wednesday night’s school board meeting, a parent with a child who has an individual education plan talked about the difficulty of families with I-E-P students adjusting to sudden remote learning days, especially with the COVID staffing shortages the district now has. Dr. Yacobi says, yes, the district and the school board both realize this can be tough, as some I-E-P families do not have remote capabilities.
AUDIO: My heart went out to her when she talked about the fact that remote is not always the way students receive services and learning, particularly students with I-E-Ps. Absolutely, I loved that she’s supporting everything we’ve said. We need more staff. Finding them is very difficult. And again, through this pandemic, trying to provide services remotely is tough.
Each present school board member and Superintendent Dr. Alicia Geddes thanked all District 118 staff during the meeting for their work during these difficult times. Meanwhile, Vermilion Housing Authority Executive Director Jaclyn Vinson presented a plaque to Dr. Geddes for her four years as commissioner of the Housing Authority. Dr. Geddes responded by saying it is great to have the district and the Housing Authority working together to help solve problems for District 118 families. Vinson agreed.
AUDIO: Absolutely, and the more parterships we can have throughout the community, throughout social service providers; the better we can support the families who need support.
Also, the District 118 Board approved the addition of archery as an extra-curricular activity for kindergartern through 8th graders in the district. The high school has had an archery program for a while; in addition to magnet K through 6 school Northeast, where 42 students are currently participating.
