District 95 wants to break from special ed agency
Lake Zurich Unit District 95 officials say they want to end membership in the Special Education District of Lake County and bring those services in-house to benefit their students.
Commonly known as SEDOL, the cooperative educates about 550 students with learning disabilities at its Gages Lake campus on Gurnee's south border. Another 800 children are served by the publicly funded agency at other Lake County schools.
District 95 has informed SEDOL it wants to depart effective July 1, 2010.
Superintendent Michael Egan said District 95 has the ability to provide the same level of programs in its buildings. He said special ed students in the Lake Zurich area would benefit from attending school close to where they live.
"It's important to have kids in our district in schools in our district," Egan said Friday.
If District 95 gains permission to leave SEDOL, it still would be responsible for paying its $3.3 million share of a building project the agency has started. Even with that cost, Egan said, District 95 at some point would be ahead financially by handling special ed in-house.
District 95 owes the money because it was a SEDOL member when the $26.5 million construction project was approved last year. At the time, District 95 objected to the SEDOL proposal, contending it was pushed through too quickly.
District 95 school board members heard a presentation at a committee meeting Thursday night on new vocational and transitional programs that would be established to serve all special education students' needs if the SEDOL ties are severed.
At a SEDOL governing board meeting Dec. 2, Superintendent William Delp reviewed District 95's request to leave the agency. The 36-person governing board has an elected official from each member school district in Lake County.
SEDOL would decline to honor a request to continue serving two District 95 pupils at Laremont School in Gages Lake if the Lake Zurich district withdraws, according to minutes from an October meeting. Delp couldn't be reached for comment Friday.
Certain procedure must be followed if District 95 is to gain permission to leave SEDOL. In addition a majority of the 36-member SEDOL governing board, District 95 would need support from Lake County's regional schools superintendent and the Illinois State Board of Education.
Egan said he's not sure when the SEDOL board will vote on District 95's request. "I know our lawyers will meet with their lawyers next week," he said.