District 308 Finally Gets $450,000 Check, Waiting For Millions More

MONTGOMERY, IL -- School District 308 finally received a portion of the $3.5 million it is owed by Illinois, a payment that should have been made in September of 2016. The payment of $450,000 is 15 percent of the payment owed to the school in this particular installment. The state is, as of this point, over $10 million behind in payments to the district.

After an April 24 School Board meeting, John Sparlin, Superintendent of the district, said "as of today, we should have received three (of four) categorical payments totaling $11 million.” The categorical payments are supposed to be paid to the school district once per quarter.

The district includes 22 schools, from elementary to high, in Aurora, Montgomery, Oswego and Plainfield.

Sparlin sent a letter to Suzana Mendoza, the Comptroller for the State of Illinois, two weeks ago requesting that the state fulfill its legal requirement in funding the school's balanced budget. The fiscal year ends on June 30 and, according to a Kendall County Now article, "if the district does not receive additional payments as of that time, the state will owe it $14.75 million."

Article image via Shutterstock