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Board reviews ISBE-driven policy packet: mental-health screenings, SRO limits and cyberbullying updates
Summary
District administration summarized a policy packet required by the state board, including universal mental-health screenings for grades 3'12 starting 2027-28, limits on SRO authority, cyberbullying expansions and a package of curricular and personnel policy updates scheduled for a vote in two weeks.
Superintendent-led administration reviewed a large policy packet that the Urbana SD 116 board is scheduled to vote on in two weeks. The packet consolidates state guidance and proposed local policy language across operations, personnel, curriculum, student behavior and immigration.
The superintendent highlighted a forthcoming Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) mandate that districts provide universal mental-health screenings for students in grades 3 through 12 beginning in the 2027-28 school year. "ISBE is going to provide 1, as it says here, to assist districts with implementation," the superintendent said, adding the state will supply guidance and training by July.
On student safety and law enforcement in schools, the packet updates policy to prohibit school resource officers from issuing citations or acting as truant officers and requires districts with SRO programs to hold memoranda of understanding with law enforcement. The superintendent said the district already maintains an intergovernmental agreement for its SRO program.
Student-behavior language was also updated to explicitly include cyberbullying actions such as unauthorized digital replicas (superimposing one student's head on another's photo) as behavior that can be investigated and addressed. The packet also proposes procedural requirements for threat-assessment teams, expanded substitute training on CrisisGo, and additions to student suicide-prevention language (including ID stickers and employee ID inclusion).
Curriculum and acceleration items were discussed: district staff described plans to use MAP benchmark data to inform accelerated placement earlier in the year, while end-of-course examinations were proposed as a required check for seventh- and eighth-graders seeking high-school credit. The superintendent said teacher recommendation will remain part of acceleration decisions.
The superintendent reminded the board that the full policy changes and the full packet will be on the agenda for a formal vote in two weeks and urged members to submit questions to administration before that meeting.
