Burr Ridge District Spends Most Money Per Student In DuPage

BURR RIDGE, IL – Burr Ridge School District 180 spends the most money per student among the 29 elementary school districts in DuPage County.

It also has the highest rate of low-income students among those same districts – by far.

According to state statistics, District 180 spent $26,867 per student in the 2020-21 school year. The others ranged from $13,990 in Addison District 4 to $25,369 in Oak Brook-based Butler District 53. Twenty-five of the districts spent less than $20,000 per student.

As for low-income students, District 180 recorded the highest rate, at 88 percent. Coming in second was Addison District 4, at 62 percent. The rates for most of the others were far lower. Butler District 53's rate was 1 percent, with Hinsdale District 181's the second lowest, at 2 percent.

A few years ago, the state enacted a new funding formula for schools to put more money into schools with greater percentages of low-income students. But that doesn't explain why District 180 leads the pack in spending in DuPage County.

In an interview, District 180 Superintendent Thomas Schneider said part of the reason for the high per capita spending is the federal money that the district gets each year in the form of federal "impact aid."

The district receives that money because of Argonne National Laboratory, part of which is within the district's boundaries. When the laboratory acquired the land more than seven decades ago, that meant a big loss in property tax money for local government bodies.

Under a longstanding program, the federal government provides compensation for school districts that lose parts of their tax base to federal installations.

The district receives about $770,000 a year in federal money, or nearly $4 million since 2018, Schneider said.

The money accounts for about one-fourteenth of the district's income, Schneider said.

"The impact aid pays for low class sizes, longer school days, co-curricular activities and the STEM lab," said Schneider, a leader in national school groups that lobby the federal government for impact aid. "It increases the amount we spend on students."

The district, he said, is also the only one in the area that provides an in-school clinic on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Another factor in the high per capita spending, Schneider said, is the drop in enrollment. In 2006, the district's enrollment was 769. As of Tuesday, it stood at 481, a drop of 60 percent.

The state's funding is per student, so the district sees less money as a result. But its property tax level has remained about the same, despite the drop in students. That, in part, results in more money per student.

In 2015, District 180 spent $16,458 per student, nearly two-thirds lower than in 2021.

For the last few years, nearly two-thirds of the district's income has come from local sources, mainly property taxes. This compares to 95 percent in wealthy districts such as Hinsdale District 181 and Butler District 53 in Oak Brook.

Patch looked at the 10 poorest Cook County school districts, with more than 90 percent of students considered low-income. Their spending per student ranged from $13,470 to $20,780, according to state numbers.

Here are the 2020-21 data for spending per student and percentages of low-income students at 29 Burr Ridge elementary districts:

Source: Illinois Report Card