District 181 Receives Recognition for Financial Report

The Illinois State Board of Education has placed District 181 in the Financial Recognition category, based on its Annual Financial Report for June 30, 2010.  The designation recognizes a school district for financial strength.

“Local school boards are grappling with decreased revenue and late payments from the state,” said State Superintendent of Education Christopher Koch. “Many districts have had to make very difficult and painful decisions during the past several years in order to try and balance budgets."

Koch said that the state board is advocating for increased education funding for the next fiscal year.

"Even in times of great financial stress, we must continue to invest in education for our students and our state’s future,” said Koch.

In order to place a district in the Financial Recognition category, several factors are considered: a district's ratios of fund balances to revenues and expenditures to revenues, the number of days there is cash on hand, the percent of short-term borrowing available and the percent of long-term debt remaining. Based on these criteria, District 181 received a score of 3.8 on a 4.0-point scale.

District 181 has achieved the Financial Recognition rank in five of the last seven years (2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010).  You can visit the state board of education website for more information on the school district financial profile system.

The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010 is available on the District 181 website, under "About District 181" in the Business Department section. The site provides a 10-year overview of the district finances.

“The district was able to earn the Illinois State Board of Education's highest Financial Profile ranking for the 2009-2010 school year through strategic budget reductions approved by the school board and the efforts to reduce spending by the administration, teachers, and staff,” said Dr. Troy Whalen, assistant superintendent for business.