Illinois School Finance - One School District's Struggle to Maintain Financial Solvency

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand perspectives about how the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the Superintendent of the District were able to lead their school district from near insolvency to financial stability. Factors that contribute to the financial distress of Illinois school districts, the statutory requirements and the role of the financial oversight process in a school district were explored. Additionally, the fiscal strategies employed by the administrators were also investigated.;The study included a comprehensive analysis of the history of Illinois school funding to provide a historical basis for understanding the present Illinois public school funding structure evolved. Also, in order to develop a thorough understanding of the impact of the Illinois funding structure, both the CEO and the Superintendent were asked open-ended questions about Illinois public school district's financial positions and their financial struggles. The study revealed that financial oversight can play a pivotal role in creating and maintaining long-term financial solvency in a fiscal distressed school and that a virtual bankruptcy by utilizing specific financial strategies.;Additionally, the CEO and the Superintendent made recommendations that other school leaders should consider to alleviate financial problems in four major areas which included: (a) increasing revenues, (b) reducing expenditures, (c) decreasing short-term debt, and (d) managing long-term debt.