State senator weighs in on Champaign School Board ‘chaos’

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — Turmoil in the Champaign School Board is spilling over to Springfield.

State Senator Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) is weighing in on the situation . He said conflicts between board members and the district are becoming a black eye for the area. Rose reached out to the state’s superintendent asking for help to bring board members together.

Now, he’s worried about what the embattled district could mean for the community.

“I mean, if you are a Carle, or OSF, or Christie Clinic trying to recruit a physician, the first thing you’re going to do if they have kids is do a search for C-U schools,” Rose said.

He said the results that search would return would be unfavorable for Champaign schools.

It’s not very often a state senator gets involved with a school board’s inner workings, but Rose had been reading about frustrations within the district. He decided to reach out to the State Board of Education’s Superintendent Tony Sanders about a month ago.

“You maybe just pick up the phone and suggest mediation for this board, maybe organize some facilitators to come down and have a sit-down, and try to put Humpty-Dumpty back together again,” Rose said.

Two board members had just resigned because of the turmoil. Rose said Sanders reached out to the district to bring in mediation. The only problem is, some board members knew nothing about this offering.

One of them, Betsy Holder, said at Monday’s board meeting she heard it second-hand from Rose.

“I did not personally hear of anything about that until I heard it on the radio,” Holder said, “and I guess I’m looking for clarification.”

Superintendent Shelia Boozer said at the meeting she had talked to Sanders but said she would be open to mediators after the two vacancies on the board were filled.

“[Sanders] offered information on IASB to come down once again to work with our board,” Boozer said. “I’m quite tired of being accused of things that I have not said nor done by my bosses.”

Two board members have said they want the regional superintendent to fill the empty spots. Rose wishes they would have taken the outside help earlier.

“That is beyond irritating. It is beyond concerning,” he said. “You know, I’m not sure how far that offer was conveyed, if at all, to any of the board members.”

WCIA reached out to both the State Board of Education and Champaign School District, but neither responded in time for this story.

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