Urbana SD 116 reviews multilingual program growth, newcomer supports and biliteracy plan

Lupe Rone, director of multilingual programs for Urbana School District 116, told the school board the district now serves more than 1,000 emergent bilingual students across 69 countries and 51 languages and described new intake and family‑support systems for newcomers.

Rone said staff and parent leaders are focusing on practical barriers—transportation placement delays, unclear pickup/drop‑off safety, access to culturally relevant food and clothing, and locating gender‑neutral restrooms at the high school—and on curriculum work to increase bilingual outcomes. “All multilingual learners will receive support to develop fluency and literacy skills in English,” Rone read from the department mission, adding the district is expanding native‑language instruction and vertical alignment from early childhood through high school.

Why it matters: the district’s English‑learner population has more than doubled in the past decade, staff said, creating pressure on bilingual staffing, assessment and family outreach. The board heard detailed counts at individual sites (for example, staff reported about 491 students at Yankee Ridge, of whom about 318 are identified as English Learners) and an inventory of supports for students arriving from other countries.

District liaisons described operational and social supports for newcomers and families. Mítsy (Mitsy) Maldonado, the Spanish family liaison, said BPAC (Bilingual Parent Advisory Council) has increased parent participation since meeting Sept. 21 and uses a dedicated Facebook page, paper flyers and SeeSaw (a translatable digital tool) to reach families. “We’ve had new families arriving from Central America; in October we registered about seven new students in one building,” Maldonado said, describing outreach and coordination with community partners, including the university legal clinic and local refugee organizations.

Staff emphasized intake procedures at the high school that aim to reduce first‑day confusion for new students: a meeting with the liaison to explain schedules, issuing Chromebooks and IDs, and a short tour of essential offices. They also described supports for unaccompanied minors—referrals to legal clinics, donated backpacks with essentials, a small on‑site food pantry and clothing closet—and the difficulty of obtaining vaccine records and emergency housing quickly.

On curriculum and evaluation, the board heard a summary of a dual‑language program evaluation conducted by the Center for Applied Linguistics. Staff said the district has implemented recommendations in areas such as leadership structure, curriculum resources and professional development. The district has adopted an 80/20 Spanish/English model for Spanish dual‑language instruction at several grade spans and is using resources such as Caminos (Spanish) and CKLA/Amplify (English), with plans to bridge instruction across languages through a biliteracy unit framework.

Staff also described new assessment tools (mClass benchmarks) that produce scores in both languages to inform MTSS‑level interventions. “Every student that takes the assessment in both languages will have scores in both languages,” a staff presenter said, noting that the reports include targeted instructional suggestions.

Board members asked about equity alignment, web posting of board goals, and whether the district had sufficient bilingual staff and substitutes to support collaborative planning; staff said the district is using grant funding and PD to expand endorsements and coaching. Board members praised the outreach work and asked staff to continue clarifying transportation routes and safety at pickup points.

What’s next: staff said they will continue work on vertical curriculum alignment, professional development for biliteracy units, and strategies to shorten bus‑placement timelines and broaden outreach beyond Facebook to reach families without social media access.