Dist. 200 parents might form special needs PTA

Parents of special needs students in Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 soon may have a new resource available to them in the form of a parent-teacher association.

The idea of creating a districtwide special needs PTA will be up for discussion during an informational meeting at noon Wednesday, Feb. 4, at the district's school service center, 130 W. Park Ave., Wheaton.

Anyone is welcome to attend the meeting, which will last about an hour.

"We're excited about this new possibility to support parents," said Wheaton Warrenville PTA Council President and school board candidate Chris Crabtree.

Information about what the PTA might offer will be presented during the meeting, and time will be set aside for questions and answers. If more than 10 people agree they would like to see the PTA formed, officials will pursue a charter to create it.

A second meeting will then be scheduled to elect officers and board members.

Crabtree hopes to hear from attendees about what they think the PTA's mission should be and what they feel is a reasonable membership fee.

"This PTA is not in competition with the local unit PTAs," she said, adding that she would encourage special needs parents interested in joining to still stay involved in local units.

Local unit PTAs, Crabtree said, focus specifically on one building and work to benefit all students attending the school.

"It's going to be a little bit different. This is there for education and supporting a population within our district," she said. "Those groups can't be as vocal when they're spread out among 20 different schools. This just seems like a natural fit for our district."

The idea for a special needs PTA arose when Jean Donovan, field extension representative for the Illinois PTA, approached Crabtree about it.

"It's an up-and-coming, current trend," Donovan said, adding that several nearby districts already have special needs PTAs in place, including Indian Prairie Unit District 204 and Plainfield School District 202.

She believes one reason these PTAs are growing in popularity is because parents of special needs students "quite often have individualized concerns" that other parents "may just not understand."

"There's a sense, when you're a special needs parent, of feeling alone," Donovan said. "This is an opportunity to get together, meet with parents, talk with parents who have the same concerns and issues, and also celebrate those things about their children that are exciting."

Some other opportunities the special needs PTA may be able to provide, Donovan said, include adult education about special needs, speaking events, and programming focused specifically on special needs students and their families.

She also envisions the group working directly with District 200's special education administration to better inform parents about any curriculum changes and new services offered to special needs students.

Joanne Panopoulos, assistant superintendent for student services, says about 2,000 students in District 200 are eligible for special education services, which include individualized education plans, known as IEPs.

Panopoulos said the district has been "very fortunate" to have positive experiences with several parent groups that focus on special needs education, including Special Education Alliance 200.

However, in recent years the activity of those groups has slowed, and they still represent only a small portion of the special need population. Panopoulos hopes the new PTA, if formed, will get more of that population involved.

"I'm interested in this opportunity," she said, adding that if the PTA starts doing fundraising she hopes its members and the district can agree to spend it on areas that will help "the greater good" in the special needs population and "not just individual students."

Panopoulos said she sees a lot of crossover with what is already offered by the district and what the special needs PTA might want to do - but in a good way.

For example, the district already hosts a special needs community resource fair, but with the establishment of the PTA, she is hopeful more people could be drawn to the event.

Since a notice went out about the meeting, Crabtree - who also is the parent of a student with an IEP - said she has received many phone calls, emails and texts from parents who say they are excited about the opportunity.

"The fact that the response has been so overwhelming tells me that there's definitely a need there," Donovan said. "I hope lots of parents come out."