D118 board hears about alleged discrimination at North Ridge
May 5—DANVILLE — A group of North Ridge Middle School students, one seventh-grader and five eighth-graders, addressed the Danville District 118 School Board Wednesday night about personal discrimination and stereotyping against Black students by some teachers and administrators at the school.
The students said their voices aren't being heard and they want to create change.
They said they are being disrespected, and their opinions disregarded or viewed negatively. Students are categorized as "good" and "bad," and treated differently, they said.
Another student said Principal Eliza Brooks and some other teachers have their backs.
Other problems they cited include: the number of times Black students are stopped in the hallways, and detentions and expulsions given can be compared to Black persons being stopped by police or jailed and arrested; the dress code and different body types; grades not kept up-to-date for extra-curricular eligibility; and teachers discussing their personal lives instead of teaching their classes. The students wonder when education will be changed for the betterment of the students.
Superintendent Alicia Geddis said she will meet with the group.
Several school board members, including Elder Tyson Parks, said at the end of the meeting, that they hear what the North Ridge students are saying. "It is not going unnoticed. Our role is to begin to act on what they're saying," Parks said.
Schoorl board member Pastor Thomas Miller also said they want to make students feel better about attending D118 schools. The board will be looking for solutions to their concerns.
In other audience comments, the board heard from Meade Park Elementary School Principal Chris Rice and saw a student welcome video of Meade Park students welcoming Garfield Elementary School students to their school starting this fall with Garfield's closure. One student said she knows going to a new school can be scary, but she said they're going to love Meade Park. The Meade Park students and staff also have invited Garfield parents and students to an open house and their Field Day picnic next month.
The board also heard more questions about saving the front, including triangular windows, of the former Cannon Elementary School, and what the status of the demolition was. Other questions raised were about putting the playground equipment elsewhere due to the PTA owning half of it and the PTA should be part of the decision; and if there is a time capsule in the building.
As many schools in the area finish up their school years in the next couple weeks, Danville School District 118 students still have more than a month of school left.
The school board Wednesday night approved an amended school calendar that has the last day of school for the 2021-2022 school year as June 10 for traditional calendar students and June 9 for pre-kindergarteners and Northeast Elementary Magnet School students, with three emergency days used due to cold weather.
Danville High School's graduation is the latest in the area on June 4. Graduation will take place outside for the second year in a row, but one hour later, at 6 p.m. on the Ned V. Whitesell Football Field. The rain date will be 3 p.m. June 5 at the David S. Palmer Arena.
The board also approved:
* A lease with Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation for the health clinic at Danville High School. No other information was available.
* A job description for the new preschool program coordinator position.
* A one-year bus transportation contract for the 2022-2023 school year with First Student. It is an 18 percent increase, largely due to wages and sign-on bonuses for bus drivers, school district officials say.
* A one-year adoption of the Eureka math program for kindergarten through sixth-grade students. COVID-19 funds are being used due to the coronavirus pandemic impacting math test scores. The cost is $132,306.
* A three-year custodial staff collective bargaining agreement. The salary schedule will increase by 5 percent overall new money each year.
