Joliet Township High School District 204 discussed the ongoing construction at both campuses, test scores, and projections for future funding and enrollment during its state of the district presentation Thursday night at Joliet West High School.

Following an hour-long reception in which students from Joliet West’s culinary and music departments provided refreshments and entertainment to visitors, Superintendent Dr. Karla Guseman and Assistant Superintendent for Business Services Dr. Ilandus Hampton discussed the issues facing the district.

In his presentation about the construction, Hampton touted the recent opening of West’s new Pupil Personnel Services office.

The second half of that project will begin this spring and be completed by the start of next school year, while construction is expected to begin on Central’s version of the PPS space in summer 2027.

The wait for PPS at Central is due to the ongoing work on the T&I building link project, which broke ground in January 2025 and is slated to be completed in two shifts.

The exterior construction and first-floor renovation are expected to be completed by December 2026, with the T&I second-floor work finishing in time for the 2027-2028 school year.

After its completion, work will begin on the new PPS suite and locker room renovations. Designs for a renovation of the Central Main Building’s second floor were also shared during the presentation.

Summer 2027 will mark the beginning of construction on Joliet West’s new student center building, a project which is currently expected to go to bid in March.

Other projects anticipated for the future, but which are still in the planning phase, include:

• a science addition at West, along with renovations to most of the school’s buildings.

• renovations to Central’s music and science rooms

• and applied life additions at both schools.

Hampton said he hopes to “get through phase 4 of the plan with current funding levels,” including those plans that have set dates.

Financial health

The second portion of Hampton’s presentation revolved around the district’s finances, which face some uncertainty due to both changes in federal policy and an anticipated decrease in enrollment over the next decade.

“None of these things we’re talking about can be accomplished without money,” Hampton said. “We at Joliet Township High School pride ourselves on being fiscally responsible.”

Hampton noted that District 204 has received the highest financial recognition from the Illinois State Board of Education, earning the state’s Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting for the past 37 years.

“We’re in a better position than a lot of schools that way,” said Hampton.

However, he also noted that since 2017, the district has been considered Tier 1 for funding needs due to its population size and high percentage of low-income students, who make up 69.2% of the district.

“The state has been doing a great job supporting its districts, and hopefully that continues with everything going on currently with funding in our country,” Hampton said, alluding to the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts to the Department of Education.

Hampton said the district is anticipating a decrease in federal grant funding of 20% to 26% next fiscal year, and the district is attempting to plan accordingly.

In an interview with Shaw Local earlier in the week, Guseman noted that there is a lot of uncertainty around funding for education programs and districts don’t know how much the cuts will impact them. She said District 204 is “being conservative” in its budgeting to prepare for potential cuts.

Enrollment shifts

In addition to the potential funding cuts, the school could see its Evidence Based Funding from the state decrease due to a drop in population size. The district’s enrollment has gradually been going down in recent years, and that is anticipated to continue.

According to data shared by Hampton, the incoming freshmen classes since the 2019-2020 school year have decreased in size by about 100 students, with next year’s freshman class size anticipated to be 85 students smaller than the current freshman class based on data from the district’s feeder schools.

“Young people aren’t having as many kids,” Hampton observed.

By 2030-2031, the district is projecting a decrease in total enrollment of over 1,300 students from its current population, which would put the district closer in size to where it was about 20 years ago, according to Hampton.

He said that this will not only mean a decrease in funding, but also a decrease in staff as well.

The district does not have plans to lay people off, but rather that the goal is to “decrease staff through attrition,” Hampton said.

As teachers resign or retire in the coming years, Hampton said the district may not replace them, unless it is necessary, to hopefully reduce the number of district staff naturally.

‘More than a single test’

Guseman addressed the district’s progress on its strategic plan and the resources the school is offering or planning to implement to improve student performance.

Among the changes highlighted by Guseman is an alteration in the school day schedule, which is set to take place in the 2027-2028 school year.

“We currently have one of the longest days in our conference,” Guseman said. “We worked with our staff and the teachers’ union to reach an agreement. We’re still working out the nuts and bolts of its, but we will be starting 10 minutes later and dismiss 30 minutes earlier.”

Starting next year, Guseman also noted that the district will be hiring a multilingual services coordinator at each school to oversee world language and English learner programs. The new administrators will be part of a reorganization of the district’s multilingual services, which are growing more important as the district’s English learner population grows.

English learners make up 24.8% of the District 204 student population, with those students disproportionately attending Joliet Central.

The state average of English learners is 17.5%, West’s EL population sits right near that average, while more than 30% of Central’s population are English learners.

Guseman said this has led to unique challenges for the district, including test scores.

“Part of our state report card results are based on proficiency, which is based on ACT results,” she said. “In order to be in compliance with the state, 95% of our students must participate in testing, and the ACT is only offered in English. We have a lot of students being forced to take a test they can’t fully read, which is why it’s important to consider demographics in those results.

“We are proud of all our students, and we’re proud of our multilingual programs,” she said. “It’s important to remember that one test does not define you.”

Despite test scores being lower than the state average, the district achieved a record high graduation rate at both schools in 2025, with 80.8% at Central and 86.6% at West.

The district’s goal is to reach 90% overall, something they have moved towards with the introduction of multiple credit recovery programs in recent years, Guseman said.