District 109 Wants Out of Special Education District

Deerfield School District 109 has requested to withdraw from the Northern Suburban Special Education District, and 17 North Shore school boards will consider the request in the coming months, according to the Deerfield Review.

“Over the past several years, District 109 has been bringing students with special needs and special education programs back ‘in house’,” said Superintendent Michael Lubelfeld. “Because we have been able to staff these programs with District 109 personnel, we have become far more self-sufficient and independent in successfully meeting the needs of children with disabilities.”

The district’s first choice would be for a consensual withdraw, which would require favorable votes from all 17. But if one or more denies the request, the district would have to seek the approval of the Lake County Regional Office of Education and the Cook County Immediate Service Center.

The district’s decision to pull out of the cooperative came last November.

North Shore School District 112, which serves Highland Park and Highwood, also has a pending petition to withdraw from the 18-member NSSED.

Precedent for withdrawing from the NSSED came in 2005, when Wilmette District 39 dropped out and again, when Avoca District 37 did the same. The two districts forged their own partnership through the Wilmette Community Special Education Agreement.

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