Fighting for Community Schools, Illinois Students and Families

For many students, the most significant barriers to academic success exist far beyond the classroom walls. 

The services provided by the Full-Service Community Schools (FSCS) program are life-changing support for students and families across Illinois. This FSCS program was launched by the U.S. Department of Education in 2008, to support the operation of community schools, particularly in high-poverty and rural areas.  

For one family in Normal, Illinois, their dedicated community school coordinator secured the family permanent housing to ensure their children could stay in their current schools and finally complete their individualized special education evaluations. This family was previously struggling with chronic housing instability and for some time, were living out of their car, making it impossible to complete the evaluations necessary for the services their students needed.  

"That makes school a lot easier when you know where you're going to sleep at night,” said Rebecca Kinsey, community school supervisor at the Baby Fold, the lead partner agency for community school implementation in Unit Five schools. “The kids have been super engaged in school... attendance has been consistent. All those things since we've been able to stabilize housing.” 

Community school coordinators act as the bridge between schools and community resources, integrating academic programs with essential services like healthcare, social services, and family engagement initiatives because community schools recognize that factors outside of the classroom affect student learning and success.  

“What community schools do is they allow kids to find their place,” said Lesley Rivers, Director of Statewide Initiatives at ACT Now Illinois, which provides school programming across Illinois. 

The promise of this model is currently at risk.  

The U.S. Department of Education abruptly discontinued $18.5 million dollars of annual grant funding to organizations and schools supporting these programs in Illinois.  

Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights filed a lawsuit on behalf of ACT Now Illinois to challenge the unlawful discontinuation of these grants to protect the critical services that 19,000 students and their families rely on across the state.  

These schools relied on this grant funding to hire staff, establish partnerships with service providers, and build programs designed to meet their communities’ most pressing needs. When the Department of Education issued a decision to not continue the grants two years into the five-year program period with only weeks notice, schools and nonprofits were left scrambling to make challenging decisions related to staffing and program continuation.  

“Programs and staff were decimated pretty much immediately,” Rivers said. “Food pantries are getting shut down. Afterschool programs are getting canceled. A lot of folks had summer schools or camps planned, and a lot of those are getting canceled. A lot of our folks had partnerships with community-based organizations, so those contracts are in danger and a lot of those aren’t moving forward. Every school has had to make difficult choices and has had to slim down.” 

The impact has been particularly devastating for some rural and smaller school districts. Unlike their urban and suburban counterparts, these districts often lack alternative funding sources—like other state or federal grants—to offset federal funding discontinuations.  

In places like Vienna, Illinois, the damage goes beyond the budget; it has eroded hard-won community trust. 

“Because of the rural, conservative atmosphere of our community, it takes a while for people to trust anything related to the government. They believe that no one cares about us," said Phillip Hosfeldt, Dean of System Programs at Vienna High School. "[The funding] being pulled out from underneath us... has just eroded the years of partnerships and trust that I've had to invest in order for this to be successful.” 

Hosfeldt said that both of his directors of community schooling have sought other employment because of the lack of stability from the grant discontinuations.  

Our lawsuit challenges the federal government’s failure to follow the necessary legal procedures and processes that are required when determining not to continue grant funding. The government awarded these grants with multi-year program periods – the schools and organizations relying on this funding were in full compliance with their requirements and meeting the intended goals and had no reason to believe they would not be able to access this funding.  

For the staff on the front lines, the reversal feels like a betrayal of the mission. 

“This has been my life's work over the last 13 years,” Kinsey said. “Right before Thanksgiving, we had a team meeting, and we were all sharing and crying and talking about how we were finally up and running... And then less than a month later, the rug got pulled out. It's been devastating for our staff, and it's been uneasy for families not knowing what support is going to be available and what's not.” 

As a result of this legal challenge, the Department of Education has allowed restricted use of some grant funds through the end of the school year, allowing some schools and families to continue receiving essential services. However, the improper discontinuation of these funds has harmed the children and parents in these communities and will continue to do so until full grant funding can be continued as envisioned through the full program period.     

"When the federal government fails to follow the proper rules and regulations, it’s the communities that rely most on these services that are left to bear the consequences,” said Beatriz Diaz-Pollack, Director of Education Equity with Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. “Until the grant funds are fully continued, the 19,000 students and families that rely on Full-Service Community Schools will continue to experience direct harms from the uncertainty, unreliability, and loss of critical services created by the federal government’s illegal action here. Illinois students and families deserve the opportunity for proper review and due process.” 

ACT Now Illinois and Chicago Lawyers’ Committee are seeking to hold the government accountable to honor its commitments and the rule of law so that schools and communities can continue to provide the essential services students need to thrive.  

“We’re fighting on behalf of our schools and our students and Illinois, but also on behalf of every federal grantee who has had to suffer the consequences of these unjust processes,” Rivers said.