Board President 'Ticked Off About' $7M Funding Loss As District 202 Outlines Strategic Plan

PLAINFIELD, IL — More than 50 community members and students got together Jan. 10 to learn and give their opinions about Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202's long-term facility needs and fiscal responsibility, officials said.

At the recent iteration of the annual meeting, administrators shared that District 202 will lose almost $7 million in state funding each year due to it being among the schools that were moved from Tier 1 to Tier 2 by the Illinois Department of Education. The status decrease also reduces future funding opportunities and priority for state allocations, according to District 202 documents.

Illinois State Board of Education Press Secretary Lindsay Record told Patch District 202 will receive about $1.8 million more in tier funding in the 2026 fiscal year compared to the previous year, "though that increase is smaller than the prior year due to its improved adequacy standing."

Superintendent Glenn Wood told Patch that District 202 was reclassified to a lower tier after Illinois adjusted its Comparable Wages Index (CWI) for school districts.

"Although the district’s adequacy percentage rose from 73.2 percent to 78.6 percent, this was only because the state lowered its adequacy target by $7.3 million, not because the district received more resources," he wrote in an email. "At the same time, actual district costs grew by $2.1 million."

RELATED: D202 Board-Approved High School Boundary Changes Will Affect 10 Plainfield Subdivisions

Wood explained the process of the CWI determining tier status: "The Comparable Wage Index was built into the [evidence-based funding] formula as a measure of regional variations in salaries. A district's initial adequacy target base is multiplied by the CWI regionalization factor to produce a district’s final adequacy target. The CWI is used to calculate a district's "Final Adequacy Target" — the state's measurement of what it should cost to educate students in that district. By lowering the CWI, the state artificially reduced this target. This entire loss is attributable to the CWI adjustment pushing Plainfield from 73.20% Adequacy (Tier 1) to 78.60% Adequacy (Tier 2). Fifteen large unit districts across the state, in addition to seven districts in Will County, were [affected] by going from Tier 2 to Tier 1."

The funding is unrelated to student achievement tiers, Wood said, adding that all District 202 schools were named commendable this year.

District 202 Board of Education President Rod Westfall told Patch administrators were told, "The reason we lost tier 1 funding … is if you lose students."

"We haven't lost any students. ... We've stayed level," he said. "If anything … we could get 8,000 more kids [with the high school attendance boundary change the Board just approved]."

According to Record, the EBF tier determination is driven by formula-based calculations "applied uniformly to every district statewide, based on district-specific data related to enrollment, student need, local resources, and regional cost factors."

Westfall said he believes Chicago Public Schools plays into the reason District 202 lost funding.

"We believe this is a back door way to fund CPS, and we're ticked off about it," he said. "They have lost 30,000 kids this year. They've lost minority and special ed students. Their only growth was white students."

Asked for comment about funding going toward CPS, Wood said he had nothing to add.

Westfall said District 202 administrators are working with local lawmakers to "fight to get [the funding] back."

Administrators said they're evaluating funding options that include the use of capital reserves, grants, bond issuance or a tax levy adjustment. Voters would be the ones to decide the latter two in a referendum.

In a news release Jan. 14, the district said it has demonstrated "strong financial stewardship," with more than 92 percent of expenditures going to instruction and student services. District 202 also has an Aa2 credit rating from Moody's Investors Service, meaning it's a low credit risk.

"We have an obligation to stay informed about how proposed solutions could affect our community, whether or not we have children in the District," Coordination of Administration and Parent Groups for Educational Efficiency President Blair Kramer said in a statement shared in the release. "Strong schools are essential to the long-term success and prosperity of our entire community."

Progress on District 202's 2023-2028 strategic plan

At the meeting, administrators also shared the following progress that was made on goals part of the 2023-2028 strategic plan:

• Maintaining District Facilities: Ongoing capital improvements such as roof replacements, heating and cooling systems, upgrades, and safety enhancements to protect existing investments and ensure safe, functional learning environments.
• Expanding Critical Programs: Potential development of a new Early Childhood Center, a Career & Technical Education Center, and a dedicated Transition Center to support college, career, and post-secondary readiness for students, including those with disabilities.
• Modernizing Learning Spaces: Improvements and modernization at Plainfield Central High School to address aging infrastructure and create equitable, state-of-the-art learning environments. The building lacks several learning and support spaces that are standard at other high schools in the District.
• Addressing Enrollment Growth: Planning for new middle school, elementary, and early childhood facilities to support projected enrollment increases while maintaining smaller class sizes.

"Our goal is to plan responsibly for the future while keeping students at the center of every decision," Wood said in a statement, per the release. "Community voice is critical as we evaluate how best to maintain our facilities, expand opportunities for students, and ensure long-term financial stability."

The district will continue seeking community feedback through surveys and future engagement sessions, officials said.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to include more context about the district's move from Tier 1 to Tier 2 from D202 Board President Rod Westfall, D202 Superintendent Glenn Wood and Illinois State Board of Education Press Secretary Lindsay Record.