By: Diane Benjamin
This is the article that needs some work: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2025-10-30/new-report-cards-show-fewer-exemplary-b-n-schools-and-more-with-struggling-student-groups
The “new report cards” are based on results from LAST SCHOOL YEAR. The article fails to mention that fact, reading it makes it sound like the information is current. Results from kids now in school won’t be known until the kids are tested again at the end of this school year.
From the report card link in the story:
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Unit 5 must be trying to be nice to me, District 87 not so much. I FOIA’d both for current enrollment and asked Unit 5 about the number of students in English as a second language. I received an answer the same day. District 87 took the whole 5 days allowed by the Freedom of Information Act allows. I realize it was a tough question!
WGLT reported this for enrollment – these are last school years numbers:
Unit 5 now has 12,219 students, down 1.1% from 2024. District 87 now has 4,699 students, up 1.9% from 2024.
Aren’t current enrollment numbers more relevant?
Unit 5 told me they have 12,232 students with 114 enrolled in services out of District. 1182 are “multi language” learners. I bet the “report card” numbers don’t include those 114 since Unit 5 isn’t testing them, in-school enrollment this year is 12,118. Down 1 from last year.
District 87 told me they currently have 4642 students, 57 less than WGLT reported. I didn’t ask them about non-English speakers – the article states 700.
Two quotes from the WGLT story:
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The scoring system has already been changed to make students look better, it will be changed again for this school year:
https://blnnews.com/2025/10/24/when-school-test-scores-go-up-next-year/
I don’t believe those public unit 5 numbers, because their own internal audit and enrollment planning documents they gave to a consultant shows they only have 11,588 students. No one has been able to explain this 700 student discrepancy, but I have to believe the district would give accurate numbers to their paid consultant, and then have fake public numbers to make things look rosier to the state and public.
Count up the total students at the end of the document at each school to get the 11588. Do they somehow have students who do not actually attend a physical school?
https://croppermap.com/unit5/documents/McLean%20County%20Unit%205%20Background%20Report%20251027.pdf