2016 Statistics for McHenry County Schools – Spending per Pupil & per Classroom

Yesterday we looked at demographic information about McHenry County school districts. Today, with the help of a Friend of McHenry County Blog, we shall explore information on how the money is spent. Two statistics are shown below: Expenditures per pupil … Continue reading

Marengo High School Partners with Mental Health Board on Suicide Preventation

Mental Health Board and Marengo Community High School District 156 Partner on Suicide Prevention Question. Persuade. Refer. Ask A Question, Save A Life. The McHenry County Mental Health Board and Marengo Community High School District 156 are pleased to announce … Continue reading

Comparing School Tax Totals – 2015 and 2016 Collections

Schools are the tax districts that take most money in every part of McHenry County. Below is a comparison of what was levied last year for collection this year and what was asked for the year before. Thanks again to … Continue reading

McHenry County Schools Asking for 1.23% More This Year

Below you can see what McHenry County school districts will be asking to extract from your checking or escrow accounts this year. You will note that all of them put together are requesting 1.23% more, although the rate of inflation … Continue reading

Looking at More School Debt Information

Taken from bond documents by bond analyst Steve Willson is the following information: … Continue reading

School Stats including Cost per Classroom

Here are some 2013 McHenry County school statistics–average expenditure per pupil and per classroom, plus average teach salary–to ponder. They were calculated by a Friend of McHenry County Blog. I don’t think I have seen average spending per classroom for … Continue reading

Teacher Salary Spikes

The Chicago Tribune’s Education superb Reporter Diane Rado has examined the cost to local taxpayers of school boards that increased teachers’ salaries more than allowed by law just before they retired.  Her main article can be found here. Reported in … Continue reading

Taxes for Schools, This Year & Last Year

Since schools comprise the bulk of property tax dollars, I thought some might be interested in seeing how they changed from last year to this year. Although the percentage change column is labeled “% Change + of -” the first … Continue reading

Comparing How Schools Spend Our Money, Plus the Richmond-Burton High School Contract Impasse

There is an impasse between the school board and the teachers union in Richmond’s high school district. Each side had to submit the latest version of what it wants to a state web site. The union’s desires can be found … Continue reading

McHenry County Tax Take Up by 1.5% or $12 Million

Last year McHenry County real estate taxpayers were billed $797,419,250.88. This year the McHenry County Clerk’s Office has determined that bills amounting to $809,385,180.76 will be issued. That’s a dollar increase of $11,965,930, a percentage increase of 1.5%. The Property … Continue reading

Most McHenry County Schools Announce Monday Day Off Because of Extreme Cold

From Woodstock District 200: All District 200 schools and Kids Club will be closed on Monday, January 6, 2014. All after school activities, practices, evening events, sports and outside user activities will also be cancelled. Phone and email messages confirming … Continue reading

Cary-Grove, Prairie Ridge and Marengo High Schools Make Top 50 Chicago Area Schools

The Chicago Sun-Times ranked grade schools, middle schools and high schools using average scores on state achievement tests. The paper’s analysis ranked the percentage of students who met statewide standards. I scanned the results and found no grade or middle … Continue reading

MCC Remedial English by High School Districts

Yesterday, McHenry County Blog published the percentage of incoming freshmen at McHenry County College require remedial math classes. The best high school district was Huntley’s at 46% needing help to be able to take a college course. Today, we look … Continue reading

Math Problems at Local High Schools

You can see the data above. But, just to make sure people can use a search engine to find out how well each McHenry County College high school prepares its students who attend McHenry County College in math, I’ll type … Continue reading

McHenry County High School Teacher Salary Data from Sun-Times Data Base

The Chicago Sun-Times released a school teacher and administrator data base this week that some might find interesting. “Salary data includes base, summer-, after-school pay, benefits, vacation- or sick-day payouts, pre-retirement salary bumps. Average includes only full-time employees,” says the … Continue reading

$3.8 Million in Local School Employee Union Dues of Local School Employees

McHenry County Blog has surveyed school districts with major presences in McHenry County and discovered that union employees paid $3.8 million in dues during calendar year 2010. The total amount was $3,825,572. Contracts are typically for more than one year … Continue reading

McHenry County School Operating Fund Balances

Look at these statistics that Huntley School District 158 web site (click to enlarge): So, the Huntley school district had about 25% of their annual budget in the bank at the end of its fiscal year. (The higher figure includes … Continue reading