USD116 BOE Update: May 5, 2026

Members of the Habitat for Humanity club at Urbana High School gave an overview of their year. About once a month, the club partners with Champaign County Habitat to spend a Saturday building locally. In addition to that, in November 2025 and February 2026, approximately twenty 11th & 12th graders attended service trips to Tutwiler, Mississippi. The Habitat Club is funded through donations, fundraising and grants.

This year's Unsung Hero Award winners were announced. This award recognizes support staff members. Congratulations to all of the honorees, we are honored you choose to work in Urbana.

• Ashley Booth – SGC Building Operations Coordinator
• Timothy Brenner – UMS Student Relations Supervisor
• Aiden Bristowe – UHS Special Education Teaching Assistant
• Ashley Burge – LEAL Special Education Teaching Assistant
• Qkeomi Clemmons – UMS Student Relations Supervisor
• Joanna Davison – CO Accounts Payable
• Noah Dowling – YR Custodian & Facilities Preventative Maintenance
• Nevaeh Essien – TP Special Education Teaching Assistant
• Traci Gardner – TP Special Education Teaching Assistant
• William Garrabrant – CO Accounting Clerk
• Jillian Graves – UHS Special Education Teaching Assistant
• Aletra Hunt – DPW Interim Site Coordinator
• Lisa Kincaid – CO Human Resources & Benefits Specialist
• Yamileth Mejia Becerril – SGC Bilingual Special Education Teaching Assistant
• Jennifer Musson – CO Human Resources Specialist
• Terrance Napper – DPW Special Education Teaching Assistant & TP Recreation Leader
• Kenia Orellana – YR Dual Language Family Liaison
• Alexis Ramirez – SGC Building-Based Substitute Teacher

The farm to school coordinator gave an overview of the program this year. There are 10 school gardens in the district, which provide enrichment opportunities for students in various ways, including incorporating math and science into the activities. At Yankee Ridge Multilingual, classroom teachers have the opportunity to “Adopt A Bed” and plant with their class and Farm to School provides reading and writing activities that go with the planting project.

We will implement DocAccess into our new website in order to help us meet federal accessibility guidelines. DocAccess automatically converts website PDFs into accessible, WCAG-compliant HTML - which meet Federal ADA requirements.

• No need to manually remediate PDFs
• Ensures equitable access for families with disabilities
• Reduces legal risk related to inaccessible documents

The Board of Education was given a demo of Diligent -- a board management software tool -- for consideration starting with the 2026-27 school year. This will be brought back for a vote at a future meeting.

The Board reviewed a draft Board meeting calendar for the 2026-27 school year. A final draft will be voted on at the May 19 meeting.

The Board reviewed policy revisions, including five-year review items included in PRESS Plus Issue 121. This will be voted on during the May 19 meeting.

President: Paul Poulosky

Vice President: Ben Baxley

Secretary: Sheri Langendorf

Secretary Pro Tem: Lola Jones

Board Recording Secretary: Lori Johnson

May 5 Superintendent Report

Please note the following graduation/promotion dates

Urbana Adult Education Center: May 20 at 5 p.m.at UHS

UHS Graduation: May 21 at 6 p.m. at State Farm Center

Urbana Middle School 8th Grade Promotion: May 27 from 9:30-11 a.m. at UMS

5th Grade Promotions

• Thomas Paine: May 28 at 8:30 a.m.

• Yankee Ridge Multilingual: May 28 at 9:15 a.m.

• Leal: May 28 at 1:30 p.m.

• King School: May 29 at 9:30 a.m.

• Dr. Williams: May 29 at 9:15 a.m.

Registration links for USD Summer Programs are available. Register today

Email: contactus@usd116.org
Website: usd116.org
Location: 1101 East University Avenue, Suite B, Urbana, IL, USA
Phone: 2173843600
Facebook: facebook.com/usd116
Instagram: instagram.com/urbana116/