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LMMay 2019 Special Edition
Enrollment: 4,200 FY18: $1.3 million
Type: preK–12
FY19: $943,076
New state dollars are allowing the district to reduce the size of
elementary classrooms, add instructional coaches and take
steps to address the teacher shortage, Galesburg CUSD #205
Superintendent Dr. John Asplund said.
According to Asplund, classroom sizes in Galesburg were
sometimes as high as 27 students per room. Thanks to an influx
of new state dollars, the district is ramping down classroom sizes
to a maximum of 25 students.
Another major plan to boost student performance is adding 10
instructional coaches to work one-on-one with students, Asplund
said. The district is currently in the hiring process. A fine arts
teacher was also recently hired thanks to EBF, he added.
“We went through $4 million in cuts and are using the
Evidence-Based Funding Model as a template to how we
can bring staff back,” Asplund said.
The teacher shortage remains a major concern in Galesburg.
One way the district is combatting that, Asplund said, is to offer
loan forgiveness to new teachers. Paraprofessionals and nurses,
both positions that have been a struggle to fill, are also started
out at a higher rate of pay, he added.
“The biggest thing EBF has done is given us the ability to stop
cutting,” Asplund said. “We’re now able to put money back into
buildings and focus assistance toward the
neediest students.”
Galesburg CUSD #205
continued...
The new curriculum, Schiffman added, is more viable for
students and aligned to Common Core and Illinois Next
Generation Science standards. It also features both digital
and traditional resources.
“We’re trying to prepare our students for that next step,
whether it’s college or career,” he said. “We know technology
is an important piece and a tool for that next step.”
For social-emotional supports, the district added social
workers, making it so each of the district’s 12 buildings is
staffed. EBF dollars also allowed the district to hire Behavior
Support Personnel, a Family Resource Coordinator and
properly fund its PBIS program.
“We continue to see the need for preparing kids socially and
emotionally, so they continue to have a growth mindset,”
Schiffman said. “It really goes back to taking care of our kids
and meeting the needs that they have.”
We’re trying to prepare our students for that next step,
whether it’s college or career; we know technology
is an important...tool for that next step.
—Dr. Michael Schiffman, Freeport SD #145
The biggest thing EBF has done is given us the ability to stop
cutting. We’re now able to put money back into buildings and
focus assistance toward the neediest students.
—Dr. John Asplund, Galesburg CUSD #205