harris school 040121DOLTON – As Black communities have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, State Senator Napoleon Harris (D-Harvey) announcing schools in the 15th District are set to receive an estimated $261,020,731 in additional funding to help address the many challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on our Black communities, and I’m glad to see that the Black Caucus’ efforts are helping make a change,” Harris said. “Providing guidelines on how to spend the funding will increase justice for our communities and help them move forward.”

The funding comes as part of the most recent federal COVID-19 relief packages. Schools, students and parents have overcome challenges that no one could have imagined before the pandemic began, including remote and hybrid learning, digital connection issues, new processes for receiving state and federal aid that normally flow through schools, and more.

Local school districts are set to receive the following amounts:

Arbor Park School District 145

$2,831,311 

Bloom Township High School District 206

$18,806,767 

Bremen Community High School District 228

$13,781,814 

Brookwood School District 167

$5,715,703 

Community Consolidated Schools District 168

$9,611,391 

Community High School District 218

$16,124,982 

Dolton School District 148

$19,654,519 

Dolton School District 149

$18,151,219 

Flossmoor School District 161

$4,108,837 

Ford Heights School District 169

$6,557,921 

Forest Ridge School District 142

$3,523,595 

Harvey School District 152

$20,263,089 

Hazel Crest School District 152-5

$7,769,398 

Homewood Flossmoor Community High School District 233

$1,852,853 

Homewood School District 153

$2,527,895 

Hoover-Schrum Memorial School District 157

$5,434,521 

Lansing School District 158

$9,416,356 

Midlothian School District 143

$6,339,376 

Posen-Robbins School District 143-5

$8,266,583 

Prairie-Hills School District 144

$16,502,652 

South Holland School District 150

$3,465,547 

South Holland School District 151

$7,785,862 

Steger School District 194

$4,961,072 

Thornton School District 154

$742,404 

Thornton Township High School District 205

$30,998,704 

West Harvey-Dixmoor School District 147

$15,826,360 

The majority of the funding comes from the American Rescue Plan, which gives local schools a great deal of flexibility in how they can use the money over the next 3 ½ years. At least 20% of the funding must be used to address learning loss, but beyond that, school districts can use the money to address many different issues and costs. For example, it can be used to better equip schools for safe learning, to prevent layoffs, to address students’ social and emotional needs, to fund summer programs, or to ensure all students have access to reliable Wi-Fi and technology.

The State Board of Education, in collaboration with other state agencies that address education, has produced a guide for local school districts to help them decide how to best use their resources. While the guide and other state-sponsored services are completely voluntary, the state aims to support local districts during this difficult time.

“Our Black students and teachers were some of the people most impacted by this pandemic, so our local school districts need to use the funds in a way that helps them overcome their barriers,” Harris said. “This federal funding means a lot for Illinois’ education system, and it will go a long way to help the 15th district community."

In total, Illinois received nearly $7 billion to support local school districts.