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Unit 5, District 87 Plan More Student Help, Facility Work With Latest COVID Relief

Barry Reilly wearing facemask at desk
WGLT

Officials in the District 87 and Unit 5 school districts say they plan to hire additional student support staff and make health-related building improvements with the latest round of COVID emergency funding.District 87 Superintendent Barry Reilly said the district expects to get about $13 million in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding, based on the formula used from the first two rounds of COVID-19 relief.

The district received about $7.6 million in the first two COVID funding bills. Reilly said the district used that money to expand summer school and hire more family coordinators, teacher’s aides and other staff to help students who have been struggling during the pandemic.

“I think we’ll be in a good position to really support our kids and staff moving forward over the next several years,” Reilly said.

He said District 87 might hire 15 to 20 additional certified staff members along with about 10 paraprofessionals, adding it’s not clear how many of the jobs the district will be able to fund more than a few years.

“What I don’t want to do it is hire a bunch of staff and then two, three years down the road I’ve got to RIF (reduction in force) them all because the grant money runs out,” Reilly said.

In District 87, the relief money also was used for PPEs, desk barriers and other COVID-related equipment.

Reilly said the district plans to upgrade its ventilation systems and add touchless water dispensers to its buildings, noting the district will explore solar energy if that’s something that would be eligible for COVID funding. 

He said the district also will consider buying new curriculum materials with the COVID funding. 

Unit 5

Unit 5 expects to get about $12 million in the latest round of COVID emergency funding, but the district's chief financial officer isn't sure that will be enough to cover the district's pandemic-related costs.

Marty Hickman speaking at Unit 5 school board
Credit Izzy Carroll / WGLT
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WGLT
Marty Hickman

“It’s providing the extra supports we need which is great. I’m not sure it makes the district whole,” said Marty Hickman, adding it’s too soon to calculate all the district's costs associated with COVID-19.

Hickman said the district plans to expand summer school to help more students who have fallen behind under remote learning.

“Some students really excelled, took to the online learning and excelled in it,” Hickman said. “Others struggled a little bit with that scenario.”

Hickman said Unit 5 plans to hire more family coordinators for students and upgrade air filtration in all of its schools.

Unit 5 got about $7.6 million in the first two COVID relief bills.

Tri-Valley

One school leader in McLean County said his district got a “double whammy” that shortchanged the coronavirus aid it received.

David Mouser, superintendent of Tri Valley schools in Downs, said the district was shut out of federal money in the latest COVID relief bill because the district didn't have enough low-income families to qualify for federal funding last year.

“As the third round of this comes out, to see that we are shut out again, at least on paper, it’s extremely frustrating,” Mouser said. “You look at the numbers, you almost viscerally react to it.”

Tri-Valley got about $70,000 through the second COVID relief bill, but Mouser said that came from the state's discretionary funding.

He said that’s not enough to cover expenses to keep schools open during the pandemic.

“It’s an unprecedented year. We’ve heard that term over and over,” Mouser said. “If you are going to be in- person as a district, and have to follow all of the protocols, our community has stepped up big time to make this happen. But the bill falls on our community quite frankly."

Tri-Valley has again asked Illinois State School Superintendent Carmen Ayala to provide financial relief. 

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Eric Stock is the News Director at WGLT. You can contact Eric at ejstoc1@ilstu.edu.
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