U-46 students outline calls for earlier college/career guidance, more mental-health supports at district student summit

Students who served on School District U-46’s Superintendent Student Advisory Council presented the board April 28 with findings from the district’s ninth annual student summit and related participation in an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) student summit.

Student presenters said roughly 220 students from all seven U-46 high schools participated and that summit recommendations clustered around four topics: student identity and connection; postsecondary opportunity and success; student safety and well-being; and academic opportunities and transitions.

On identity and connection, students said they want better promotion of opportunities that amplify student voice (for example, clubs, principal-student advisories and student independent advisory boards), and they said multicultural events at many high schools helped students feel more connected to their cultures. On postsecondary opportunities, students told the board they want earlier promotion of college and career pathways, expanded access to AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) curriculum beyond currently enrolled students, and better outreach to freshmen and sophomores so they can build four-year plans.

Students raised safety concerns that included school parking-lot traffic patterns, inconsistent use of ID scanning and checkpoint procedures across schools, and inconsistent rule enforcement inside buildings; they also said attendance incentives had helped in some places. Students recommended clearer safety communication and training for students and staff in emergency situations.

On academics and transitions, students recommended more shadow days and middle-to-high-school transition activities, clearer course pathways with counselor meetings, and an end to a lottery system for specialized academies in favor of stronger prerequisites tied to readiness and “passion” for particular programs. Students said the lottery system had led staff to “scale back difficulty of content” and to reduced opportunities for more-prepared students.

Leonor Nevarez, U-46’s member of the Illinois State Board of Education Student Advisory Council, summarized discussions from the statewide student summit on mental health. She said students in the ISBE summit cited three priority areas: access to mental-health professionals and trusted adults; reducing overwhelming academic pressure; and more explicit mental-health education that addresses stress, anxiety and coping skills. Nevarez read sample survey comments students gave: one student wrote, “No, because once you get past 5 mental health days, they will email home and in some cases, take away prom.” Another wrote, “Some teachers really do care, but the majority no.” Nevarez said the student advisory plans to bring the feedback to state officials in Springfield next month.

Board members thanked the student presenters and asked follow-up questions. One board member asked how to promote programs and the students suggested mobile-friendly messaging and brief links rather than long email text so students will see opportunities on their phones.

Why it matters: The summit reflects direct student priorities on mental health, academic pathways and equity of access to programs. Several recommendations will require coordination among counseling, curriculum, and school operations teams and, in some cases, district policy or staffing changes.

What comes next: The district’s student-advisory-backed recommendations will inform district planning; Nevarez and other student representatives said they plan to raise the mental-health findings at the ISBE level in Springfield.