Arcola community urges board to keep Innovative School Year, citing student supports and high mobility

Teachers, parents and students from Arcola Elementary made repeated appeals to the Board of Education to keep the Innovative School Year (ISY) calendar in place.

"I do not like the board of education taking the Innovative School Year, ISY away," Amelia Mayer, a fourth-grade student, testified.

Arcola teachers and PTA leaders said ISY provides not only extra instructional time but also critical wraparound supports: summer nursing and counseling, family English classes, and enrichment programs such as Project Lead The Way and mindfulness. Sarah Nathan, an English-language development teacher, said Arcola's mobility rate is 41 percent, double the county average, and that students arriving midyear often need immediate supports before they can learn.

Parents including Natalie Lalonde and Chad Mayer said the superintendent's recommendation to cancel ISY came soon after the board approved the ISY calendar and that the timing disrupted family planning and childcare. Parents asked for a one-year sunsetting period if the program is ended to avoid sudden disruption. Several speakers urged retaining specific ISY programs such as Project Lead The Way and mindfulness even if calendar changes move forward.

Board members said they would gather cohort data and cohort growth metrics to better evaluate ISY outcomes, and staff indicated no immediate programmatic changes to Project Lead The Way during the hearing. No final board decision was made on program elimination during the session.