LM Nov-Dec.2019

The curriculum enhancements were in the areas of writing and social-emotional learning. Reading and intervention programs were also added. Lastly, the increase in state funding allowed the district to add an art club and drama club

Enrollment: 775 FY18: $345,057 FY20: $216,249 Type: preK–8 FY19: $239,427 How EBF has made a difference A boost in state funding allowed East Alton SD #13 to hire additional staff, update its curriculum, add reading and intervention programs and offer more extra-curricular activities for students. Eleven new full-time employees have been hired, including two school psychologists, two special education teachers, four instructional assistants, a kindergarten teacher, a fourth grade teacher and a speech pathologist. Adding psychologists provides another level of social- emotional support for students. The additional special education teachers will keep classrooms sizes down, and the instructional assistants will help special education teachers in the classroom with students who are navigating cognitive challenges. “We are offering more of a life skills-based program and can now offer more individualized instruction because our class sizes are much smaller and our teacher-student ratio is lower,” Superintendent Emily Warnecke said. Meanwhile, the additional kindergarten teacher will keep classroom sizes below 20 instead of at 24 students. Fourth grade classroom sizes are also much more manageable at 20 students rather than 26 students. All of the new hires were based on what the research in the EBF says has the largest impact on student learning. “In our first year, we put all of our money into people because we understood that is really what our students need,” Warnecke said. “In the second year, we added curriculum and made program additions.” In addition, the increase in state funding allowed the district to purchase new, research proven reading and math curriculums for the early grades. “It’s a game changer for us,” Curry said. “We want to give our kids the best chance to be grade-level readers by the third grade.” Continued Support of EBF Would… Additional state funding would allow Abingdon-Avon CUSD #276 to purchase new curriculum for grades 6-8 that is aligned with the curriculum recently purchased for the early grades. The district would also like to hire a second dean of students to assist principals with day-to-day operations, as well as another STEM teacher to bolster the program and expand it to more students. East Alton SD #13

as well as a middle school baseball team. Continued Support of EBF Would…

Enrollment: 1,413 FY18: $563,357 FY20: $420,589 Type: preK–12 FY19: $417,460 How EBF has made a difference Additional state funding has allowed Flora CUSD #35 to provide more support for students at the elementary, junior high and high school levels. The district hired two elementary teachers in order to keep classroom sizes at or below 20 students. The numbers could have jumped to 25 or 26 students without the ability to hire more teachers. The junior high has been an even bigger focus. Flora CUSD #35 hired a full-time guidance counselor, a special education teacher, an English teacher and a math instructional aide. “The junior high was definitely an area where our scores needed to improve, so we have added a variety of things that have had a significant impact on students,” said Superintendent Joel Hackney. The district needed more help with the implementation of MTSS (Multi-Tier System of Support) at the high school so it hired a part-time staff member to assist teachers. MTSS is a framework that many schools use to provide targeted support to struggling students. In addition to personnel, the district used EBF to update textbooks and instructional materials in order to adopt new reading programs at the elementary and junior high levels. Lastly, the additional state funding freed up other resources to help with the implementation of a 1:1 technology initiative. “EBF has had a significant impact,” Hackney said. “Like every district, we did as much as we could with limited resources Additional state funding would allow East Alton SD #13 to continue to provide more social-emotional support for students and better professional development for teachers. The district also plans to add more personnel. The needs the district has identified are four reading and math interventionists and three instructional coaches. Long term, once the district moves closer to its adequacy target, the board will look at lowering property taxes to ease the burden on taxpayers. Flora CUSD #35

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LM Month 2019