Districts need to weigh costs of leaving cooperative

With the departure of key administrators and an expected infusion of federal cash, special education has lately been on the front burner in Huntley Unit District 158.

One of the topics that has arisen is the district's relationship with the Special Education District of McHenry County, or SEDOM.

This cooperative provides transportation and programs to some special education students in participating school districts in McHenry County.

SEDOM came up briefly during a Rosemont-based consultant's review of District 158's special education program.

In its report to the school board, the ECRA Group opined that District 158 could save hundreds of thousands of dollars by withdrawing from SEDOM.

I have also heard about conversations in other McHenry County school districts looking to cut costs in these lean times.

But the ECRA Group's analysis, as I noted in a recent conversation with a McHenry County school business official, is somewhat oversimplified.

Yes, participating school districts currently pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to SEDOM. But these costs would not simply vanish if school districts severed ties with the cooperative.

Instead, the districts would have to begin providing many of the services that SEDOM offers to its members.

Susan Shepard, chief financial officer of Crystal Lake Elementary School District 47, pointed out that districts pulling out of SEDOM would save on administrative overhead - perhaps 10 to 15 percent of their SEDOM line item.

If my rudimentary math skills serve me correctly, that would amount to perhaps $50,000 to $120,000 in savings for some of the bigger McHenry County districts.

While that might sound appealing to efficiency hawks, it is really not much - the cost of one or two young teachers - and must be weighed against other factors.

School districts may not have the facilities or staff to meet the needs of some students with special needs. No doubt this is a principal reason SEDOM's members decided to join.

Districts that withdraw from the cooperative might have to accept a lower quality of education and services for students with severe special needs or spend an unknown amount of money and time to train existing staff to meet those needs.

The cost of staff training or hiring new staff to fill the gap left by SEDOM could eat up some of the cost savings from withdrawing from the cooperative.

And parents of children with the most serious special needs may prefer the level of service they get with SEDOM.

I'm not suggesting school districts shouldn't consider the savings they would realize by moving all of their special education services in-house.

But school officials, parents and tax-weary residents need to carefully weigh the potential cost savings against the financial and human cost of withdrawing from a special education cooperative.