The top 20 highest paid teachers in Elmwood CUSD 322 each earned more than $64,000 in total compensation in 2014, according to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).
The amount reflects teachers' full adjusted pay — a calculation which includes benefits and all pension contributions by taxpayers for each teacher, and reflects a full year of work instead of the nine months teachers actually worked.
Records show that in 2014, Rickie A. Shreffler, a teacher at Elmwood High School located at 301 W. Butternut St., received $94,704.87, the highest full adjusted pay among all teachers in the district.
Included in that amount was $7,765.14 in taxpayer-funded benefits.
Overall, the total amount Elmwood CUSD 322 spent on its 20 highest paid teachers in 2014 was $1,537,461.87.
Elmwood CUSD 322 had 51 teachers in 2014.
According to the United States Census Bureau's 2014 Census American Community Survey (ACS), the median household income for Illinois was $57,444 in 2014.
ISBE is responsible for administering public education in Illinois and consists of nine board members appointed by the governor and approved by the Senate.
*Editor's note: A previous version of this story incorrectly noted the teacher benefits data was from fiscal year 2015 when it was actually from fiscal year 2014. We have updated the story accordingly.