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Health & Fitness

District 200 Financial Profile UPGRADED

District 200's financial profile has been upgraded to RECOGNITION, the highest category of financial strength according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

While a statewide financial analysis shows more than 100 school districts dropped out of the highest financial ranking in the past year, District 200’s financial profile has been upgraded to RECOGNITION, the highest category of financial strength. The Illinois State Board of Education’s annual Financial Profile of the state’s public schools was released during its monthly board meeting on March 20th.

The Financial Profile provides a snapshot in time that helps ISBE gauge school districts’ financial condition. In order to qualify for Financial Recognition, a district must receive a score of 3.54 – 4.0. District 200 received a 3.8 requiring little or no review or involvement by ISBE unless District 200 should request it.

A district is categorized based on its Annual Financial Report from Fiscal Year 2012, which ended June 30, 2012. The rating is created by using five indicators of financial performance:

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  • Fund Balance to Revenue Ratio
  • Expenditures to Revenue Ratio
  • Days Cash on Hand
  • Percent of short-term borrowing available
  • Percent of long-term debt remaining

 

Superintendent Dr. Brian Harris and Asst. Superintendent for Business Services, Bill Farley, attribute the upgraded ranking to careful financial planning and the creation of efficiencies across District Operations. Dr. Harris insists that, “It is really important to consistently look for opportunities to create efficiencies in our operations without sacrificing the high quality education that our community expects.” Farley says that in the past five years, the District has made significant budget reductions to positively impact our financial health.

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Examples of cost saving measures include:

  • Cut $15 million in expenses in 2009-2011.
  • Adopted a balanced budget for the past three consecutive years.
  • Adopted a fund balance policy to maintain a fund balance of not less than 25% and not more than 40% of total operating budget, representing approximately ninety (90) to one hundred forty days (140) of operation.
  • Negotiated a teacher contract that is tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and eliminates retirement incentives which increase pension obligations - effective beginning the 2012-13 school year. 
  • Refunded outstanding debt in 2012, resulting in a $1.2 million savings to taxpayers.

According to ISBE, Illinois School Districts’ financial pictures are expected to grow even bleaker in the coming year. Information provided by school districts for Fiscal Year 2013 forecasts that the number of districts deficit-spending will increase to 573 or 66.7 percent of all districts, compared to 415 or 48.2 percent in Fiscal Year 2012.

Since 2009, the State of Illinois has slashed K-12 Education funding by more than $900 million and many expect that reductions will only continue. District 200 Leadership understands that while it will be difficult to maintain financial health for our District in the coming years due to decreased state funding, Recognition status is the goal and they are taking some precautions to make sure the District stays where it is.

Examples of precautions include:

  • Conservative 5-year financial forecasting
  • Budgeting for potential local pension obligation
  • Continued energy savings initiatives
  • Negotiating modest collective bargaining agreements


To view the District’s Mid-Year Financial Update, please see the attached or visit the Business Office page at www.cusd200.org.

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