Illinois Senate Bill 209 - Key Information

Last year, a school district and a special education cooperative in the Chicago area became embroiled in a challenging dispute.  At the heart of the issue was the fact that the school district was withdrawing from the cooperative and they wanted several of their students to continue attending the cooperative programs.  The challenge was that the cooperative did not have a non-member rate and so the students were not able to attend the program.  The parents of these students approached their legislators seeking a legislative fix.  While an initial bill would have allowed non-cooperative students to attend at the regular rate across the state, IAASE worked hard to narrow the provisions of the bill so that it only applied to one school district.  While negotiations on a non-legislative solution ensued, the legislature passed the bill allowing students from the school district to attend the cooperative.  While the two parties reached a solution and former Governor Rauner ultimately vetoed the bill, IAASE wishes to make sure that situations like this do not arise again.

Enter Senate Bill 209 sponsored by Senator Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant (D-Plainfield).  Senate Bill 209 would amend the School Code to make changes in the process school districts use when withdrawing from special education cooperatives/ joint agreements.  The bill addresses issues that came up in the Spring.  Specifically, the bill requires:

·       School districts to give at least 18 month’s notice to other cooperative members (rather than as specified in their joint articles of agreement).

o   Rationale:        Currently, the articles of joint agreement for some special education cooperatives do not specify a time frame.  Since there are financial implications for all member districts when a member district withdraws, it is important to be specific about the minimum notice requirements.

·       School districts to provide written notification to all parents of students with disabilities that they plan to withdraw from a special education cooperative and invite parents and other interested community members to a hearing to provide feedback on the plan.

o   Rationale:        Currently, parents could be caught in a situation where their child is receiving services from the special education cooperative and suddenly find out that the district will no longer be a member.  This legislation will force withdrawing districts to notify all parents of children with disabilities of the planned withdrawal and hold a public hearing to discuss parent concerns.  This increases transparency and accountability for taxpayers.

·       A comprehensive plan for special education services and outlines the specific components that must be present in order for a Regional Board of Education to deem a withdrawing district as fit for serving students with disabilities on their own.

o   Rationale:        There is not currently a place in the Illinois School Code that clearly outlines or articulates the components of a comprehensive plan.  Consolidating and placing everything into one place will allow for greater transparency and easier decisions by Regional Boards of Education.

·       School districts seeking to withdraw from a special education cooperative to provide a written plan for placing all of its special education students prior to withdrawing from the cooperative.

o   Rationale:        In the last year, a school district sought to withdraw from a cooperative and keep their students placed in the special education cooperative programs.  When the special education cooperative would not allow for this to occur, the parents of these students with disabilities sought intervention in the form of special legislation.  This section of the bill would prevent this from happening by requiring them to identify placements for all students without the use of the special education cooperative.

The bill is set to be heard in committee on Tuesday, February 19, 2019 and we ask members of IAASE to provide witness slips in support of this legislation by clicking here.