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Urbana SD 116 hears special‑education staffing update; district adds diagnosticians and reassigns coordinator role
Summary
Urbana SD 116’s student services director told the board the district is 14% short of certified teachers, has hired two educational diagnosticians to support evaluations, and reallocated an existing position to create a special‑education coordinator while continuing to contract for speech‑language services.
Beth Ladd, the district’s executive director of student services, told the board at a study session that Urbana SD 116 is still working to fill staff vacancies in special education and has taken several steps to bolster evaluation and classroom supports. “We are 14% unfilled for our teachers,” Ladd said, noting many open roles are currently covered by substitutes and long‑term substitutes recruited and supported by HR.
Ladd described two new educational‑diagnostician hires — one internal and one from another district — who will support evaluations, behavioral observations and team problem‑solving alongside school psychologists. “We have hired 2 very highly qualified, staff,” she said, explaining the diagnosticians take on different evaluation components and work in tandem with psychologists to serve students’ needs.
The district also explained it reallocated an unfilled teacher position to create a special‑education coordinator role intended to support buildings with larger populations of students receiving specialized services. Ladd said the coordinator is not an administrator but will provide building‑level support and that the position was posted.
On related services, Ladd said all building social‑work, occupational therapy and physical therapy roles are filled; several speech‑language pathologist positions remain open but are covered through contracted providers while the district continues recruitment. She added that suspension incidents are down overall but that total suspension days increased this year due to three or four significant incidents at the secondary level.
In public comment before the update, Sharon Anderson of the NAACP education committee urged targeted interventions for students at Preston Williams Junior School, citing successful after‑school models in other districts. “It would be so wonderful if we could have some kind of intervention to support these students,” Anderson said.
Board members asked how professional development reaches general‑education teachers and how substitute credentials vary; Ladd said PD last year focused on special‑education staff but that general educators are engaged in voluntary sessions and that substitutes include those with substitute licenses as well as retired teachers holding full teaching licenses. She and Jacqueline Douglas, the district’s special‑education administrator, said IEP services continue to be provided regardless of whether a student is served in a specialized program or returned to a home school.
The district did not provide a complete list of open positions or projected hire dates during the presentation; Ladd said the leadership team is continuing recruitment and will update the board as hires are made.
