Urbana School District 116 board appoints three student ambassadors, approves consent agenda and accepts community donations

The Urbana School District 116 Board of Education on Monday appointed Mia Schroeder, Kandre Towns and Sophia Sho Freley as student ambassadors and immediately swore them into their roles.

The board approved the appointments by roll-call vote; Member Hixon, Member Maribou, Member Langodorf, Vice President Baxley, President Palowski and Member Cheryl were recorded voting yes. The board earlier approved the meeting agenda by voice vote.

After taking the oath, the student ambassadors outlined a mission to "represent UHS with integrity, supporting student engagement in academic curriculum, and to advocate on the behalf of all students to create a positive and inclusive learning environment," Mia Schroeder said. Schroeder listed goals including increasing literacy among graduates and "increase the diversity in AP or accelerated classes" and said ambassadors will work to bring student concerns to the board.

Sophia Sho Freley said she aims to "invest in Urbana athletics" and to pursue before- or after-school ACT/SAT prep opportunities to help students. Kandre Towns said the ambassadors will emphasize equity and access, "making sure that all students have equal access to resources around the building."

The ambassadors said they will distribute an anonymous Google form to every student this Friday to gather concerns and recommendations; the form will be anonymous to other students and staff but will record the student e-mail and name if a safety concern requires follow-up, they said.

Separately, the board approved its consent agenda, which included minutes for June 17, July 1 and an August 5 study session, and a set of fund bills: June and July bills totaling about $3.4 million; operations fund bills around $715,000; bond and interest bills "a little over $1 million"; transportation $476,000; working cash bonds approximately $76 million; school facility occupancy tax $485,000; TOR $216,000; a life safety levy of about $9,000; payroll approximately $6.6 million; and Urbana Adult Education items totaling $174,000. The consent agenda passed on roll call with recorded yes votes.

The board also accepted several community gifts: Smith Burger Company provided a $100 sponsorship for the UHS Winter Guard; Adara Salon Champagne contributed $200 to enter two regional competitions; and CU Church donated 50 backpacks with school supplies. The board approved receiving the gifts and sending appropriate thank-yous.

Before recessing, the chair moved and the board voted to enter a closed executive session to discuss litigation affecting the district. The board recorded yes votes from Member Langodorf, Vice President Baxley, President Palowski, Member Cheryl, Member Hixon and Member Maribou. The chair stated no action would be taken by the board following the executive session.

The board meeting included a brief student ambassador report and routine board business; no citizen statements were received that evening.