As school districts around the state set their levies for the upcoming year and finalize budgets for the year ahead, one Piatt County school leader is trying to make her community aware of how school funding works.

The formulas and rules around school funding are a lot for green superintendents to wrap their heads around and for Mary Vogt, the third year Superintendent at Bement Schools, it took her a while to be able to knowledgably describe it all.

According to Vogt, her community has been inquiring why they are not addressing some of the facility needs of the district when there appears to be money available. She has had to do a lot of education to understand that dollars are often limited in where they can be spent.

For the public, budgeting at home is how many relate to budgeting for schools. Vogt points out, however, there are dollars designated for certain funds under the umbrella of a district's budget and cannot be spent for other purposes.

When it comes to addressing issues of building maintenance or other projects, unlike a personal budget where someone can hire a reputable contractor in their community with a simple phone call, Vogt explains schools are beholden to a process of securing bids and other processes to address those issues.

Districts levy certain rates within property taxes for funds in their budgets. Administrators around Illinois this year seem much more intentional about raising awareness of how budgeting works within the school systems.