That figure will soon increase.
Gov. JB Pritzker announced Wednesday the 28,000-student school district can look forward to receiving $220 million thanks to President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan signed into law in March to aid the nation in the recovery of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prtizker, who made the announcement in the Ellis Elementary School gymnasium, praised Rockford Public Schools for offering families of students from pre-K to 12th grade a choice between in-person and remote-only instruction since the first day of the school year.
"But still, we're all wondering if this was a lost year for many children," he said. "We worry about how living through this pandemic will impact their future."