AIRSS continues to advocate on behalf of rural and small schools, serving when asked. As your Executive Director, I represented AIRSS as part of an EBF Advisory group for ISBE, tasked with the redesign of the EBF Spending Plan. The advisory group, led by Luke Corry, spent countless hours reviewing the past plan and discussing ways to improve and streamline the document. I was honored to serve with your colleagues and pleased with the outcome of the work. Please see more information from ISBE below. Always advocating for you,
David Ardrey
Executive Director
Association of Illinois Rural and Small Schools
In consultation with an advisory group, ISBE has redesigned the EBF Spending Plan. It will appear as a new tab in the annual district budget form beginning in FY 2024. Organizational Units that do not submit a budget form to ISBE will complete the spending plan via a standalone Excel template. ISBE is making the template available now so that Organizational Units can get familiar with the new format. Navigate to the EBF Spending Plan webpage to access the revised spending plan. It is for review only and is not meant to be submitted to ISBE. Additional resources, including a webinar, guidance document, and finalized templates will be available this spring. Many questions in the revised plan are consistent with prior spending plans. Instructions and context are provided throughout. There is also a table at the bottom of the template that allows users to determine if all required questions have been completed. Additionally, the EBF Spending Plan webpage has been updated with new content, including definitions of key EBF terms that appear in the spending plan. Leaders can learn more about the advisory group’s work to redesign the plan by reading “Preparing for the Evidence-Based Funding Spending Plan – FY 2024,” an article that appeared initially in IASBO’s Spring 2023 UPDATE Magazine. It was also published in IASA’s magazine Leadership Matters. A PDF of this article is included with this communication. Questions can be directed to ebfspendingplan@isbe.net.