Local school districts in Illinois are off to a good start so far according to local administrators at Monmouth-Roseville, United and West Central. However, when it comes to adopting their new fiscal year budgets, districts are uneasy about the increase in costs for transportation, bus leases, energy prices and more. West Central Superintendent Stacey Day says they transport 80% of students to and from school and the reimbursement from the State of Illinois, doesn’t offset the cost of transportation:
“Just really tight, as we all know, even at home, the cost of everything is going up. Funding sources are not going up and the same trajectory as our expenses are. For us, transportation is the huge one. I transport over 80 percent of our kids. We get a partial claim back form the state, unfortunately that amount of money is not as good as it has been. We have to transport kids, we have to get kids to school and trying to figure out how to pay for it and what we are going to do, that is a big concern and a big hurdle.”
West Central has their annual notice of public hearing at the next Board of Education meeting at 5:30 p.m. on September 22, 2025, in the West Central Elementary Cafeteria at 1514 US Route 34, Biggsville, IL.
