The superintendent of District 87 said schools are still struggling to fill mental health positions, even with County Schools Facility Tax funding being put toward it.
Schools have received funding distributed by the Regional Office of Education since midway through the fall semester, three months after the tax went into effect across the county in July. Annual revenue for District 87, the Bloomington-based school district, was projected to be in the $6 million range when the district began educating the public on the details of the sales tax before it was voted on in April 2025.
“It’s actually right on par with what we were hoping at the high end,” said superintendent David Mouser in an interview for WGLT’s Sound Ideas.
Details on the revenue and spending from the tax can be found on District 87’s transparency dashboard. An even split of the currently-projected $6,253,117 in revenue is to be doled out toward property tax relief, facilities improvements and school security/student safety.
Mental health supports
In the transparency dashboard, the school security/student safety aspect of funding is earmarked to fund entryway work at Sheridan Elementary School, a districtwide radio system upgrade and mental health first aid professional development. Yet most of the funding in that category, to the tune of $1.8 million, is to be put toward social work and psychology services.
District 87 is providing monthly updates to a revenue dashboard that shows how much has been spent on each of the three categories of spending purposes. While the most recent update from March shows $2 million spent on debt relief and another $1.5 million on capital projects, only $14,603 was shown as spent for mental health and school safety.
It also showed a goal of $1.5 million, rather than $1.8 million, in spending for the category. Mouser clarified this number is supposed to fluctuate.
“We’re updating that in real time, so we will change monthly until we hit the $6 million mark, which is what we’re expecting, and that will reset it the following year, and everyone will be able to follow along,” said Mouser.
Mental health and school safety funds can go toward filling psychologist and social worker positions at districtwide schools. District 87 has had some difficulty at filling these positions.
“The school psychs are drowning,” said one District 87 employee who chose to remain nameless for fear of retaliation. “They currently are down two positions, and they’ve for the last five years been down at least one position.”
While Mouser said there has been an increase in the number of applicants and improved teacher retention, he said the candidate pool for these positions is still not very deep.
“There are several places in our district where we have high need positions, and it’s just a matter of getting those positions filled, and it’s hard to do,” said Mouser.
One listed position for a District 87 school psychologist lists a minimum full-year, full-time position at a minimum of $43,496 annually. A listing for Unit 5 and Peoria Public Schools shows a similar minimum salary. But at Decatur Public Schools, positions for the current school year were offered starting at $57,143. Salary and benefit packages for the next school year are currently being re-negotiated there.
“We’ll get people who are interested, but then they find out they’re making less, so they take a position at another district. So the district isn’t really doing a whole lot to be competitive, and we’re a high-needs district,” said the District 87 employee.
Facilities work
Facilities spending is also underway as the district prepares for the summer. Work at the Willie G. and Gloria Brown Education Center is continuing in preparation for the Sarah Raymond School of Early Education to move in.
David Mouser is superintendent of Bloomington District 87.
“It’s been a gut remodel, and it’s, it’s made for our little, little kids, and it’s going to be there for our pre-K and early childhood education programming,” said Mouser. “The classrooms are huge. They’re made for that absolute age level.”
District 87 also has plans to offer daycare out of the facility. The building along Oakland Avenue already houses the Bloomington Career Academy.
The south gym at the high school will also undergo phase one of renovations this summer, with phase two the following summer.
“Kids are going to see it, and they’re going to benefit, and our community is going to benefit,” said Mouser. “And so for me as the superintendent, getting to be part of those projects, that’s something I’m really, really proud of.”
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