Unit 5 facing uncertainty due to missed state payments

Posted on January 18, 2017
Mark Daniel and Bruce Rauner
Superintendent Mark Daniel is hopeful payments will eventually come through. (Adam Studzinski/WJBC)

By Adam Studzinski

NORMAL – The State of Illinois is six months behind on special education and transportation payments to Unit 5.

The district said Wednesday night during its Board of Education meeting those missed payments equal about $6 million. Superintendent Mark Daniel said this creates uncertainty through the rest of the fiscal year because the district isn’t sure if any payments will come through.

“They’re absolutely critical. The result is if we don’t get it, we’ll have to dip into working cash even deeper,” said Daniel. “That line gets thinner and thinner.”

Unit 5 received a payment from the state in December, but that was a makeup payment which had been due in June.

“It’s important for the community to know, I believe, we are doing the best with the dollars that we are being supplied,” Daniel said.

Daniel added the district has been receiving its general state aid funding, which is a positive as that money goes towards the education fund.

Adam Studzinski can be reached at [email protected].

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…