The Examiner U-46 News Feed

Manual, curriculum items subject to U-46 Board vote

By Seth Hancock
  The Board of Education in School District U-46 is set to vote on a new board policy manual and a high school special education curriculum item at its upcoming meeting on Monday, July 18 after being presented on June 20.
  The board’s policy manual will align with the Illinois Association of School Board’s model policies and will be updated by the lobbyist group. Sue Kerr, the board’s president, said the manual is 395 pages, but no copy was posted to the board’s document page.
  “I guess the plan is we’d like to adopt this because we have updates coming,” Kerr said. “You all (board members) saw the legislative updates I sent out a few weeks ago, and all of that’s going to hit policy. So, we need policy in place so when IASB makes changes, it will have some place to go.”
  The curriculum item is for post-secondary plan strategies, for juniors, and post-secondary preparation, for seniors, courses.
  The total cost of the proposal is $3,905 including one-year teacher licenses for the Purpose Prep resource ($2,205) and professional development ($1,700).
  The proposal stated there were inconsistencies found in 2019 leading to a committee for social emotional learning standards. Curriculum for the Study Skills course for freshmen and sophomores was approved last year.
  “Currently, special education high school students who are enrolled in cross-categorical or co-taught courses take the Study Skills course to receive case management support, which includes the provision of special education accommodations and modifications, transition planning, assignment completion support and in grades 9 and 10, instruction on executive functions,” the proposal states. “What is known as the Study Skills course in grades 11 and 12 does not have a developed standard-based curriculum and the resources and case management process vary at the high school and classroom levels.”
  The proposal added: “The committee continued their work to complete the curriculum for grades 11 and 12 and course names were adjusted to bring focus to post-secondary strategies and planning. Grade 11 curriculum targets post-secondary plan strategies while grade 12 curriculum focuses on post-secondary preparation with skill building of collaborative teamwork and interactive project-based learning.”