Danville School District 118 is putting forth some ideas focusing on changes for the future when it comes to how they should spend about 32 million dollars in COVID relief money. These possibilities were discussed during a very lightly attended meeting in the DHS Dick Van Dyke Auditorium this past Wednesday evening.
Prior to that meeting, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Yacobi talked about a possible expanded, single location Pre-K program. But there’s more on the possibilities list. One is the idea of attendance centers At this point, all the high school students are at DHS, and all the seventh and eighth graders are at North Ridge. But with so many families moving and changing schools frequently in 118, now there’s the feeling that perhaps there should be specific attendance centers for each level, such as all 1st graders, 2nd graders, and so on, in one building together. Dr. Yocobi says, yes, this change would cause some concern among parents, but she also says, from an education standpoint, it deserves a loo
AUDIO: Consistent curriculum, all your grade level teachers in one school, having the students supported at one grade level or at two grade levels, professional development for teachers, camaraderie and consistency in instruction with teachers. So there’s positives if you at it from the schooling, strict schooling, side.
Another idea talked about: a permanent virtual school. Assistant Superintendent John Hart Says, some students excelled during their virtual education last year. So in the future, perhaps that option should be there. But if it happens, it will be gradual.
AUDIO: In the early stages at a virtual school we would look at who was successful in the virtual environment. And we do have kids that were very successful, and reluctant to come back to a traditional education because they performed so well. It would have to be a slow process. We would want to make sure that we were successful in the first semester, the first year, the first couple of years, before we expanded.
And as Dr. Yacobi points out, the state will not let just anyone opt out of regular school and go virtual. There will need to be qualifications.
AUDIO: Students who struggle with attendance and the traditional school setting would not be students who necessarily we would recommend. The state says when you set up a virtual school; you need to look at attendance, behavior, initiative, support. Does the student have the support? Can they work independently?
For now, District 118 parents are asked to go to District 118.org, view the plan and its ideas on their own, and provide feedback. The grant for the funding itself is due at the end of September, and the District will have until 2024 to use the funding to start putting new programs in place.
