District 181 Special Education Could be Brought In-House (IL)

June 18, 2010

Pending state approval, Community Consolidated School District 181 will begin providing educational services to all of its special needs students in fall 2011.

District 181 School Board members approved Monday, June 14, a petition and a resolution formally initiating the process to withdraw from the La Grange Area Department of Special Education.

The petition and resolution will be submitted to LADSE and its member school districts for approval. Once approved, the district then must prepare a comprehensive plan and submit it to the state to demonstrate its ability to provide the services formerly provided by LADSE.

LADSE has provided the district with special education services for more than 15 years, although a few years ago the district began providing some services in-house t o students.

Although the move is expected to reduce some special education expenses while adding at least one staff member, School Board President Linda Rio Reichmann said the goal is not a cost-cutting measure.

“We have done many cost-containment measures, but this is not one of them,” she said.

Within the past year, District 181 has cut more than $1 million from its operating budget as it faces declines in revenue.

Bringing special education services in-house allows the district to have greater control over the programs required, said Pam Kazee, District 181 assistant superintendent for pupil personnel services.

“It just gives us that much more control, gives us the ability to make the instruction more consistent because we will be training and preparing our own teachers,” Kazee said.

Kazee said the district spends about $1.4 million on special educational services, provided internally and purchased from LADSE.

The district estimates it would spend about $1.2 million on services once they are brought in-house and would be able to access about $722,000 earmarked for special education services by the federal government. Those funds — called IDEA funds — currently go to LADSE.

The petition and resolution will be distributed to LADSE and the LADSE members, comprised of 17 superintendents of suburban public school districts.

According to District 181 officials, if LADSE does not approve the request to withdraw from the consortium, District 181 would then turn to the regional office of education to override LADSE.

Regardless, the withdrawal process requires a one-year monitoring period by the state before final severance is complete, officials said.

Kazee said she will begin working with representatives of the Illinois State Board of Education to prepare a comprehensive report detailing how the district will provide the range of services previously provided by LADSE.