To subscribe, click here

To submit a letter to the editor, click here

To pitch a ‘My Turn’ guest column, email jdalessio@news-gazette.com

CHAMPAIGN — As another scheduled Unit 4 school board meeting fell through due to the absence of three members Monday night, community members rallied in support of agenda items that couldn’t be voted on.

In front of a standing-room-only crowd, Superintendent Shelia Boozer and three outgoing board members at the Mellon Administrative Center, 21 public speakers stepped to the microphone to voice support for two administrators whose appointments were being held up.

Several also took the opportunity to scold the three board members who weren’t there — Amy Armstrong, Betsy Holder and Mark Holm — for the second straight scheduled meeting.

“I’m admonishing you three that made a decision not to be here tonight to think about your legacy,” said Verdell Jones Jr., father of two former Champaign Central basketball stars. “Will you err on the wrong side of history this time? Will you do what is right on behalf of the children you say that mean the most to you?”

Most of the comments were in support of Centennial High School Associate Principal Cessily Thomas, whose Boozer-backed appointment as principal of Booker T. Washington STEM Academy was delayed by the lack of a quorum.

So too was the superintendent’s recommended appointment of Cynthia Watson, Unit 4’s director of school improvement, as the next principal at Edison Middle School.

If confirmed by the full board at a future meeting, Thomas would succeed first-year BTW Principal Jackie Teague, who has already been appointed a special education administrator for the district.

Watson would replace Angie Schoonover, who’s leaving a job she’s held since 2014 due to a move out of state.

“Unit 4 should consider themselves lucky to have these two extremely qualified women as candidates for those principalships,” said retired school administrator Barbara Suggs Mason, a one-time Edison teacher with deep BTW ties, from her grandfather working as a custodian there to her mother serving as principal.

“I have never seen two more qualified individuals for those positions,” Suggs Mason said, “and I urge the board to consider their approval.”

Despite the lack of a quorum for an official meeting, board President Gianina Baker opened the floor to public comment shortly after 6 p.m.

Among those who spoke were Thomas’ father, the Rev. Herbert “Hub” Burnett, and grandmother, the Rev. Evelyn Burnett Underwood.

Burnett said he had a “funny feeling” that the next board — made up of holdovers Armstrong and Holder and the newly elected Fatima Ahmed, Christy Arnold, Tony Bruno, Justin Michael Hendrix and Grace Kang — would do the right thing in the end, predicting they’d “see that this is more bogus than what (NFL teams) did to Deion Sanders’ son” during last week’s draft.

If not, he’ll be back at future meetings, a promise echoed by the Rev. Rickey Parks, who said he was speaking for his Pilgrim Missionary Baptist congregation of 500.

“She’s a qualified educator. She’s smart,” Burnett Underwood said of her granddaughter. “Board of education, the people who are here and the ones who are listening, do your job.”

Minnie Pearson, president of the NAACP Champaign County branch, expressed concern “with the way business is being taken care of” and her belief that Thomas and Watson would provide necessary representation for students of color in the school district.

“Both Ms. Thomas and Dr. Watson are not only experienced educators, but also proven leaders with a record of supporting academic excellence and positive school culture,” Pearson said. “Empowering students starts with empowering leadership. These people have earned their leadership in this district.”

Armstrong and Holder, meanwhile, repeated their desire to seat the new board ASAP and move on from what’s been a divisive past two years. Baker said Monday the plan is to do so at 5 p.m. May 9.

It won't be until the meeting that follows on May 12, at the soonest, that any of the items on Monday's lengthy agenda get acted upon, Baker reminded those on hand. That includes $177,712.60 worth of pavement and sidewalk repairs at Garden Hills Academy, which can't be scheduled by Midwest Asphalt Company until approved by the board, Baker pointed out.

It's now been on two missed meeting agendas, along with the renewal of a school resource officer contract and other items.

The swearings-in set for May 9 will mark the end of the board tenures of Baker, Bruce Brown and Heather Vazquez, who all opted not to run for re-election. All offered brief comments at the end of Monday’s gathering, with Brown taking part of his time to endorse Thomas, a BTW alumna.

“I don’t know anybody else who could bring back the sense of family and community in that building,” he said.

"This was supposed to be a victory lap for our community," Centennial teacher Lindsay Aikman added of Thomas, who she called her best friend.

In a statement Monday night, Armstrong said her issue was not with any one appointee but rather with the process that led to Thomas’ selection.

“We have been elected to represent the interests of our community,” Armstrong said. “This is another episode in a pattern of significant school leadership hires put forth without consultation and conversations with the board of education.

“Since July 2024, board members have been asking the superintendent for her plan regarding the rebuilding of BTW after the removal of a beloved principal (Jaime Roundtree). Among other questions, there still remains no plan communicated to the board. Future school leaders and campuses are being hurt by missteps, miscommunication and mistrust.”

Given that there was advance notice as to the lack of quorum for Monday's meeting, Holder said it should have been canceled before the agenda was posted Friday.

"Attempting to host tonight‘s meeting knowing there will not be a quorum is a waste of district resources," she said. "I look very forward to an immediate swearing in of the new board so that we can finally get to work rebuilding the district."