ELMHURST, IL \u2013 Elmhurst School District 205, among the state’s wealthiest, holds a low financial rating from the state. <\/p>\n
The district says the rating was likely the result of an accounting change. <\/p>\n
In 2023, the state issued “early warning” status to the district. It was based on the previous year’s finances. <\/p>\n “Early warning” status is the second lowest of the state’s four designations. <\/p>\n According to the Illinois School Board of Education, 92 percent of the state’s 851 districts were at the top level, called “recognition.”<\/p>\n Just 10 districts received an “early warning” designation, while four were in the lowest category of “financial watch.”<\/p>\n In 2021, District 205 was given “review” status \u2013 the second highest \u2013 shared by about 8 percent of districts. <\/p>\n Most of the other school districts given “early warning” status have far greater percentages of students from low-income families, ranging from 41 percent to 89 percent.<\/p>\n District 205 is at 16 percent. One district \u2013 Aptakisic-Tripp District 102 in Buffalo Grove \u2013 had a lower rate of low-income students, at 6 percent. <\/p>\n In a statement, District 205’s spokeswoman, Tonya Daniels, said the district changed its accounting method in 2020. It modified the district’s accounting practices to defer the early collection of property taxes as revenues to the following budget year. <\/p>\n This, Daniels said, resulted in the appearance of lower fund balances for the audits from 2020 to 2023.<\/p>\n “Beginning with this year\u2019s upcoming audit, we will be recording the early tax collection as revenues in the fiscal year that they are received,” Daniels said. “We anticipate that this could impact the Illinois School Board of Education Financial Profile Score for the better.”<\/p>\n Patch wrote a story earlier this week about a district memo on its finances, in which it referred to the district’s “financial acumen.”<\/p>\n Here are the districts given “early warning” status in 2023 and their percentages of low-income students:<\/em><\/p>\n \n Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.<\/p>\nFind out what's happening in Elmhurstwith free, real-time updates from Patch.<\/h2>\n
Find out what's happening in Elmhurstwith free, real-time updates from Patch.<\/h2>\n