Lake County Gazette

Illinois state Sen. Adriane Johnson (D-Buffalo Grove) is sponsoring Senate Bill 813 (SB 813) which ensures that schools do not face funding cuts because of low enrollment during the pandemic. 

According to a press release from Johnson's office, the school funding formula is based on the previous three years of enrollment, and with the pandemic and low enrollment rates, this could cause school funding to be lower than in previous years. 

"It’s important that our school districts don’t miss out on a single cent as they make the transition back to the classroom," Sen. Johnson wrote in a Facebook post. "Thank you, Waukegan Public Schools, for helping make this initiative a reality!"

SB 813, an initiative of Waukegan School District #60, would allow for schools to calculate average student attendance rates on pre-pandemic enrollment instead of including the pandemic year enrollment rate. This would decrease the negative impact on schools budgets and funding for the next school years, the release said. 

“Our teachers and administrators worked overtime to adapt to remote and hybrid learning during the COVID-19 crisis,” Johnson said in the release. “To cut their funding now would be to pull the rug out from under them just when they are beginning to recover.”

Johnson said that it vital for students to get back into the classroom, because for some kids, school is a lifeline. 

“For many kids, school was a lifeline to the outside world during the pandemic,” Johnson said in the release. “It’s important that our districts don’t miss out on a single cent as they make the transition back to the classroom.”

SB 813 has passed the Senate with bipartisan support and has advanced out of the House with a 75-39 vote.