Senate Bill 209 Becomes Public Act 101-164

Big Changes to the Special Education Joint Agreement/ Cooperative Withdrawal Process

Many of you will remember the challenging situation we all were facing in the Spring of 2018 when the disagreement between one school district and their special education cooperative caused members of the Illinois legislature to take up the issue.  In short, one school district wanted to withdraw from the cooperative, but continue to use some of its services, the remainder of the districts in the cooperative did not want this to occur and so the legislature stepped in to help some constituents out.  While the measure was eventually vetoed and the parties worked their differences out, leaders at IAASE wanted to make sure that this sort of thing never happened again.  That's why we worked with Senator Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant (D-Plainfield) to write Senate Bill 209 Public Act 101-64 which was signed into law on July 26, 2019 by Governor Pritzker.

Senate Bill 209 accomplishes the following:

• Changes the process school districts must use when they wish to withdraw from their cooperatives/ joint agreements.
• Extends the period of time - to a minimum of 12 months - that a district must give notice when they are seeking to withdrawal from their joint agreement.
• Clarifies the components of a comprehensive plan to be consistent with IDEA regulations and to better protect the full spectrum of students with disabilities across the state including those with significant disabilities.
• Requires school districts to hold a public hearing prior to withdrawing from the cooperative where members of the public can give feedback on the comprehensive plan.
• Allows the Regional Boards of Education to make decisions based on the facts presented at the withdrawal hearing including whether the withdrawing district has "presented sufficient evidence that the district, standing alone, will provide a full continuum of services and support to all its students with disabilities in the foreseeable future."
• Makes the withdrawal process a one-way street.  Only after the Regional Office of Education (Intermediate Service Center in Cook County) approves the withdrawal can the pending withdrawal be heard by the Illinois State Advisory Council on Students with Disabilities (ISAC).

We consider this a big victory for students and schools.  Thank you very much to our legislative team headed by Melissa Taylor and Judy Hackett and aided by Shannon Miller Bellini for their hard work on this initiative.  This law is in effect now.