District profile / Illinois

Highland CUSD 5

Highland, Illinois · Superintendent: Michael S Sutton · #144 of 376 Illinois districts by enrollment

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2,730

Students

2024-25 school year

Schools

2024-25 school year

$13,147

Spending per student

FY2020-21 · 22% below the Illinois median

13.7

Students per teacher

2024-25 · Illinois median 13.6

Highland CUSD 5 is a public school district based in Highland, Illinois, serving 2,730 students in 6 schools. By enrollment it ranks #144 of the 376 Illinois districts with 1,000 or more students, larger than about 62% of them. Its schools average 455 students each, about the same as the Illinois median of 465. Its superintendent is Michael S Sutton. It spends about $13,147 per student on day-to-day operations, 22% less than the Illinois median. It has roughly 13.7 students per teacher.

How Highland CUSD 5 compares

Highland CUSD 5Illinois median, districts with 1,000+ students

Spending per student$13,147

Illinois median $16,815 · 22% below · FY2020-21

Instruction spending per student$8,110

Illinois median $10,013 · 19% below · FY2020-21

Students per school455

Illinois median 465 · about the same · 2024-25

Students per teacher13.7

Illinois median 13.6 · about the same · 2024-25

Students per counselor910

Illinois median 490 · 86% above · 2024-25

Spending and staffing

Where the money comes from$45.1 million in revenue · FY2020-21

Federal 7%State 47%Local 46%

Measure	Highland CUSD 5	Illinois median	Year
Current spending per student	$13,147	$16,815	FY2020-21
Instruction spending per student	$8,110	$10,013	FY2020-21
Total spending	$40.7 million	n/a	FY2020-21
Total revenue	$45.1 million	n/a	FY2020-21
Teachers (full-time equivalent)	200	n/a	2024-25
Total staff (full-time equivalent)	361	n/a	2024-25
Students per teacher	13.7	13.6	2024-25
Students per counselor	910	490	2024-25

Spending: NCES school district finance survey (F-33), FY2020-21. Staffing and enrollment: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-25. Via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal. The Illinois median compares districts with 1,000 or more students.

Leadership

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Michael S Sutton

Superintendent, Highland CUSD 5

Source: Illinois State Board of Education, Directory of Educational Entities, checked 2026-10-19. Report a change

In the news

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Peer districts in Illinois

Compare side by side →

District	Students	Schools	Spending per student	Students per teacher	Rank
Waterloo CUSD 5Waterloo	2,767	5	$12,362	16.4	#142
Charleston CUSD 1Charleston	2,744	6	$13,245	14.8	#143
Highland CUSD 5Highland · this district	2,730	6	$13,147	13.7	#144
Deerfield School District 109Deerfield	2,714	6	$26,843	10.8	#145
Homewood Flossmoor CHSD 233Flossmoor	2,707	1	$24,019	14.3	#146

Similar-size districts nationally

District	Students	Spending per student	Students per teacher
Pullman School DistrictPullman, WA	2,731	$13,971	16.7
Lincoln County SchoolsHamlin, WV	2,731	$13,346	12.7
Crawfordsville Community SchoolsCrawfordsville, IN	2,730	$10,503	14.8
Wayland Union SchoolsWayland, MI	2,729	$11,456	14.8

Peers are the districts closest in enrollment, so they can still differ in many other ways. Enrollment, school counts and phone numbers are from the NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-25.

Printed from Superintendent's Corner: https://superintendentscorner.com/district-il-highland-cusd-5