These southwest IL school districts received grants to help them close digital divide
More than $5 million went to school districts in southwestern Illinois to help close the digital divide as students continue to learn remotely in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois State Board of Education announced more than $80 million in grants to 471 local education agencies Monday. The money comes from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and can be used for devices, including chromebooks, and to address connectivity issues with WiFi. The funds can also be applied to purchases made since March.
Nearly 92% of Illinois students started the school year with some form of remote learning, whether through a full-time remote model or a hybrid model that includes both in-person and remote learning components.
A total of 52 local education agencies — which includes school districts, state-authorized charter schools, university lab schools and alternative and safe school programs administered by regional offices of education — received grant funds in the southwestern Illinois counties comprising Region 4.
St. Clair, Madison, Monroe, Clinton, Washington, Bond and Randolph Counties comprise Region 4, and have been put under further restrictions for the state because of high COVID-19 positivity rates.
Those 52 local education agencies received a total of $5,237,735, with individual grants ranging from $30,678 in the Monroe/ Randolph Regional Office of Education, to $378,231 in Collinsville 10.
To qualify, local education agencies needed to have 70% or less than the calculated cost of educating all students, known as the Evidence-Based Funding Final Percent of Adequacy. That funding comes from both a district’s local resources and additional state funds.
Some districts — including East St. Louis 189 — have a high number of low-income students, but through the evidence-based funding calculation, still have more than 70% of the calculated cost, disqualifying them from this particular grant. Sydney Stigge-Kaufman, director of strategic partnerships for District 189, said the district came in at just above 70%.
Nearly all districts in St. Clair County started the school year with a completely remote learning plan. Some are beginning to transition into a hybrid plan, with some in-person learning, but those districts will still rely on some remote learning until schools fully open up.