McHenry Times

Standardized test scores for Woodstock Community Unit School District (CUSD) 200 were below average for McHenry County despite the school district posting above average per student spending, according to a report by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

Of the 39 elementary schools in McHenry County, six are under the control of Woodstock CUSD 200. The other 33 are operated by 13 other school districts.  

The ISBE report on 2015 school scores found only 23.4 percent of Woodstock CUSD 200 elementary students met Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) exam expectations, which is far shy of the 37.1 percent posted by McHenry County elementary schools taken together.

Woodstock CUSD 200 still managed to post the second highest spending of any other McHenry County school district at $12,548 per pupil against an average of $10,927 per pupil.

McHenry Community Consolidated School District (CCSD) 15, which operates six elementary schools in McHenry County, spent the third most of any of the districts operating in the county at $12,007 per pupil and fell just below the average passage PARCC rate.

In contrast, Consolidated School District 158, which operates three McHenry County elementary schools, boasted the highest passage rate at 52 percent while having the lowest spending for all of McHenry County at $8,844 per student.

Similarly, McHenry County’s largest school district Crystal Lake CCSD 47, which operates nine elementary schools in the county, posted a 45.55 percent passage rate while spending $10,267 per pupil.

Cary CCSD 26, which operates three elementary schools in McHenry County, spent $10,006 per pupil while averaging a 48.6 percent passage rate. Harvard CUSD 50 had the lowest passage rate at 12 percent while spending the slightly below average amount of $10,885 per pupil. Johnsburg CUSD 12 posted a 30.6 percent passage rate and spent $12,005 per pupil. Marengo-Union 165 spent $9,117 per student and posted a passage rate of 39.1 percent; and Nippersink SD 2 had a passage rate of nearly 36 percent while spending $10,486 per student.

Of the school districts operating a single elementary school in McHenry County, Alden Hebron SD 19 (Alden Hebron Elementary School) also turned in a low passage rate of 20.2 percent while spending $10,508 per pupil. Prairie Grove CSD 46 (Prairie Grove Elementary School) had a passage rate of 44.4 and spent the most of any McHenry County school district at $12,948 per student. Riley CCSD 18 (Riley School) had a passage rate of 47.1 and spent $9,938 per student. Fox River Grove Consolidated SD 3 (Algonquin Road Elementary School) spent $11,723 per pupil and produced a 47.4 percent passage rate; and Harrison SD 36 (Harrison Elementary School) was among the worst performers with 27.9 percent of students passing against an average of $11,753 spent per pupil.

The 2014-2015 school year marked the first year Illinois schools were subjected to the PARCC exam.