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Good morning! It’s Becky Vevea, Chicago bureau chief for Chalkbeat.

There are just eight days until a new fiscal year begins at CPS and the district has yet to release it’s budget. But individual schools had to finalize their campus level spending shortly after classes were out for the summer.

Today, Mila Koumpilova and the Chicago Tribune’s Kate Armanini teamed up to take a closer look at how schools across the city often turn to private fundraising and independent school-level revenue brought in by after school programs and gym rentals to make their budgets whole. As their story with data analysis by Chalkbeat’s Thomas Wilburn explains, the phenomenon is becoming more common in recent years amid campus cuts and other budget belt-tightening.

As always, if you want to share your own experiences buying too much school swag, sponsoring the fun run, or going on a spending spree at the book fair in the name of raising money for your child’s school, reply here or email us at [email protected].

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Amid Chicago budget crunch, more schools lean on dollars they raise independently

As CPS grapples with massive funding challenges, more schools are turning to private fundraising to pay for essentials, including staff and student clubs.