MURPHYSBORO, IL (Rachel Krause, WPSD-TV. Click on the link above for the full story and video. Here is an excerpt below.)
Murphysboro superintendent Chris Grode and school board president Rick Runge talk about the financial situation in their district. The full story features the specifics facing their district. (WPSD-TV photo)
Students are home for the summer, but schools in Illinois still need to be paid in part for the school year that just ended. Districts are waiting on more than $16 million in unpaid categorical funds from the state.
Categorical funds are used for things such as bus transportation, free and reduced lunches, and special education personnel. The programs and amounts are specific to each district, but all districts are supposed to receive four categorical payments each school year.
This past school year, lawmakers ended the years-long process of proration, a practice that cut state aid to all districts by the same percentage when funds were short. Lawmakers’ claim that they’re fully funding districts this school year refers to the end of proration and fully funding districts at the full general state aid level. But districts said the money they weren’t receiving from the state through proration doesn’t even come close to making up for what they’re not being paid in categorical funds.
As the state has had no budget in place for two years, the state comptroller’s office must wait to process the payments until it’s reached from the bottom of the stack to the top of the payment list. Representatives with the Illinois comptroller’s office said the payments for school districts from September 2016 were distributed once the full $425 million was available to be dispersed at once. That payment came for districts in April 2017.
The story breaks down what the state owes each district. Here is the breakdown for Franklin County:
Benton CCSD 47 – $313,300.72
Akin CCSD 91 – $22,979.02
Christopher USD 99 – $224,596.08
Benton Cons HSD 103 – $205,438.24
Ewing Northern CCSD 115 – $69,470.02
Frankfort CUSD 168 – $505,881.63
Thompsonville CUSD 174 – $74,195.08
Zeiger-Royalton CUSD 188 – $224,894.66
Sesser-Valier CUSD 196 – $219,298.24
TOTAL: $1,860,053.69
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Extra Districts as listed on the ISBE state directory:
Special Education District
– Department of Corrections school district in Harrisburg – 60105428030 – owed $187,697
Special Ed/Private: (no reports listed)
Brehm Preparatory School (Jackson)
The Mentor Network (Jackson)
VoTech
Williamson County CTE System – $283,084.00
Five County Regional Voc Center 30002748040 – no report listed
Five County Regional Voc Center 30002748045 – $227,520.00
TOTAL: $510,604
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