Community Engagement
At Ball-Chatham Community Unit School District 5, we are ensuring all students are life-ready by providing high quality education and diverse opportunities.
Our size allows us to provide families a robust educational experience and some of the best educational choices in Illinois. Kids have access to incredible opportunities in academics, career and technical education, fine arts, athletics, and extracurriculars. Because we are a unit district, we are able to provide a consistent, high-quality educational experience for every student, one that meets them where they are and makes them feel like they belong.
We are proud to be Titans. Everyone in our community loves their schools, from parents and students to teachers and staff. This pride constantly motivates us to improve because our kids deserve the best. Our staff pushes themselves and each other to grow professionally. We always look for new opportunities for students based on how they best learn today, rather than being stuck in how things were done in the past. And our community provides input on the experiences kids need in school so they’re ready for their successful futures.
This has made us a destination district for families. Our schools are rated among the highest in Illinois, with three schools rated Exemplary and three Commendable. In fact, our high school is ranked in the top 8% and we have elementary schools ranked in the top 4% of the entire state. Our student proficiencies in English-Language Arts (ELA), Mathematics, and Science are all higher than the state average. And our special education program receives the highest possible ratings.
We’ve accomplished this while setting our district on a fiscally responsible path. The district was plagued by overspending and a lack of fiscal accountability in the past, but the board, working with our previous and current administration, reformed the district’s finances by cutting spending, prioritizing funding for students, and instituting accountability. This included rejecting calls to build a new elementary school the district could not afford and did not need. Now, the district spends the least per pupil of any district in Sangamon County—36% less than the state average—and has the 2nd lowest tax rate compared to peer districts throughout the state. And our student-to-administrator ratio is 47% higher than the state average, proving we are investing the funding we have into classrooms rather than spending it on administrative costs.
While we do the best we can with the funding available, we are approaching the end of our ability to keep up. Our district is funded at only 73% adequacy, designated by the state as a Tier 1 district, meaning we are among the lowest funded districts. Making this even more challenging is the rising cost of education, with students needing more support today than ever before—for instance, 32 different languages are spoken at our students’ homes. And with record inflation, we are unable to keep up with the cost of maintaining our aging school buildings, with one school set to reach 100 years old next year and another at 88 years old.
A recent assessment of our facilities identified 416 infrastructure projects that need to be addressed totaling $117 million, with most of that work needing to be done in the next decade. Mechanicals are deteriorating and failing, causing disruptions to student learning and leaving multiple buildings without sufficient heat. Parking lots are crumbling. Electrical and plumbing infrastructure is aging, demonstrated by the water main break at the middle school which almost forced multiple school day cancellations. While we’ve made significant investments into safety and security, more upgrades are needed, including to security cameras, fire alarms, and doors. Upgrades and replacements are needed to windows and athletic facilities. Roofs are leaking, flooring and ceilings need replacement, and some furniture is outdated.
Thanks to the community’s approval of the one cent county sales tax in 2018, we have been able to address some of the highest priority capital projects. We’ve made investments in our school infrastructure, safety and security, and mechanicals. But even with this additional funding, we can only afford to spend $5 million per year on capital needs and maintenance, which will leave us at least $45 million short of being able to address all our currently identified needs.
That’s why our community has come together to develop a plan for the future of our schools. Throughout 2025, we will be collaborating to identify the improvements we would like to see in our district and how we will fund those improvements.
In a community that takes so much pride in our schools, we know our kids deserve better. Our students deserve improved learning environments that fully support their success. Our teachers deserve quality classrooms that are clean, safe, and productive. This would make us even more of a destination district, improving property values for all our residents.
