LM August 2023hi

How EBF Continues to Help Illinois Students: Making a Difference Returns Revisiting the Series Click here to read past stories

Lake Region Big Hollow SD #38 Bob Gold, superintendent

Central IL Valley Region Midwest Central CUSD #191 Dr. Todd Hellrigel, superintendent

We are a very rural, preK–12 district that serves about

900 students

We are a K–8 district with 1,750 students

Describe your school district.

in Mason and Tazewell counties

in northern Lake County.

Before EBF, what was the

When I arrived in 2015, we were in Financial Warning Status and issuing Tax Anticipation Warrants to make payroll. We had high class sizes and limited services. It was a barebones operation. This led to low morale in schools and in our community.

Proration hurt our district. We were losing between $300,000 to $800,000 per year during that period. We had to cut $1.5 million from our budget. That meant losing teachers, not replacing textbooks, not adding technology and gutting our reading program.

situation in your school district?

Percent of Adequacy then and now?

62

69 %

64

77

% in FY 2018

% in FY 2018

% in FY 2024

in FY 2024

We added social workers, behavior interventionists, academic interventionists, assistant principals and administrative staff. We have also lowered classroom sizes and added significant technology. After-school programs have also been added, and our district received Financial Recognition Status by ISBE. We have a long way to go. We want to add more support and coaching for teachers and interventions for our students. We are still behind in being able to address academic and instruction needs.

We added back ancillary services such as nursing. We rebuilt our reading and intervention programs. We have provided PD for teachers and added a work-based learning program to promote college and career readiness, including expanded dual credit courses. The biggest impact has been raising starting teaching salaries to help us attract quality teachers. The key to improving student outcomes is to hire and retain good teachers. The second key will be continued curricular improvements and strengthening teacher training programs.

Biggest impact EBF has had on your district?

How will a continuous

investment in EBF help you improve educational outcomes?

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Listen to complete interviews on the IASA Podcast:

Click here for Big Hollow

Click here for Midwest Central

17 LM August 2023