Sangamon Sun

Hartsburg Emden Community Unit School District 21, New Holland-Middletown Elementary School District 88 and Lincoln Community High School District 404 received the best financial ratings by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) for their 2017 finances.

ISBE started profiling the financial health of the state's school districts in 2003, using experts to evaluate five areas: fund balance to revenue ratio, expenditure to revenue ratio, days cash on hand, percentage of short-term borrowing ability remaining, and percentage of long-term borrowing ability remaining. The results are combined into a score, which corresponds with one of four designations.

Districts that score between 1 and 2.61 are on "financial watch;" between 2.62 and 3.07 "financial warning;" between 3.08 and 3.53 "financial review;" and between 3.54 and 4.00 "financial recognition."

In all, 640 Illinois school districts achieved "financial recognition." Another 147 were under "financial review," 43 were designated "early warning," and 22 were on the "financial watch" list.

Metro Springfield school districts financial health