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Urbana SD 116 outlines consolidated district plan and federal grant priorities
Summary
District leaders presented the annual Consolidated District Plan, detailing how federal grants (Title I, II, III, IV, IDEA, Preschool for All and others) support staffing, early childhood services, interventions and school improvement; staff warned of stagnant funding and program transitions to a new state early‑childhood agency.
Dr. Deacon opened a study‑session presentation on the Consolidated District Plan (CDP), which the district must submit to manage federal entitlement grants, and described the CDP as the framework used to develop individual grant applications for the coming fiscal year.
The district walked board members through grant‑by‑grant summaries. "A consolidated district plan . . . is for our federal entitlement grants," Dr. Deacon said, framing the review as the basis for next year's budgets and program placements.
Kelly Russell, program coordinator for CU Early, said CU Early—funded by ISBE/ISBY, the Champaign County Mental Health Board and the United Way—serves expectant families and children birth to age three and is funded to serve 85 families and 95 children with a staff of five. She told the board that 95 percent of CU Early funding goes to salaries and benefits and that level funding has required cutting 12 days of services this year. "Our biggest challenge of course is funding," Russell said, and she warned similar reductions may be needed next year if funding does not change.
Beth Lad, executive director of student services, described preschool and early‑childhood programs and said administration of several early‑childhood programs will move from the Illinois State Board of Education to the newly formed Illinois Department of Early Childhood. She emphasized rising student needs, greater staff turnover and that the district has not seen increased funding for these services in at least six years.
Staff summarized Title I allocations (about $1.67 million for interventionists, training, digital resources and community services), Title II investments in teacher and leader development (including paid new‑teacher orientation), Title IV spending on well‑rounded learning and safety/technology, and Title III supports for emergent bilingual students and family engagement. The presentation also covered Title I‑D services for students placed at Cunningham Children's Home (Gerber School), the TEOP grant that funds attendance interventionists (SEAAs), and the School Improvement (1003) allocations to five schools.
District staff explained allowable uses and restrictions (for example, federal funds must supplement, not supplant, core services) and described partnerships used to deliver services, including coaching relationships with Illustrative Math, AVID and the Illinois Resource Center. For individual schools, staff detailed how school improvement funds will pay for instructional coaching, intervention programs such as Read 180, and learning partners.
Administrators stressed uncertainties: some grants are competitive (for example, Preschool for All and certain local grants) and the district will not know final allocations until state notifications arrive. Staff said the CDP presented is a draft pending board approval, and they asked the board to schedule approval of the finalized CDP at the April 21 meeting.
Why it matters: The CDP organizes roughly 6.3 percent of district spending in federal grants and dictates how federal dollars will be used to staff interventionists, support multilingual learners, sustain preschool services and fund school improvement work. Staff flagged the combined effect of static funding and rising student needs as the primary implementation risk.
What’s next: The board will receive a finalized CDP for approval on April 21. Staff will continue to monitor grant awards and bring any budget amendments back to the board if projected salary or benefit changes require adjustments.
