Dixon considers Ogle co-op
By Vinde Wells -
vwells@shawnews.com
A dwindling number of schools participating in the Lee County Special Education Association has prompted a Dixon school official to explore membership in an alternative organization.
Dixon interim Superintendent Robert Lagerblade told the Executive Board of the Ogle County Education Cooperative Thursday that his district wants to be considered for membership.
“We want to do more than ‘stand-alone’ special education,” Lagerblade told the Executive Board. “I don’t expect an answer today, but we’d like you to consider Dixon as a member of this co-op.”
Executive Board chairman Lowell Taylor told Lagerblade that the board will consider Dixon once the Byron School District’s request to withdraw from the Ogle co-op has been resolved.
After the meeting, Lagerblade said he is gathering information to explore Dixon’s options for providing special education services for students.
“Since the co-op we’re part of went from five districts to three, Dixon is now 90 percent of the co-op,” he said. “I think it’s prudent to look and see if we’d be better off to be part of a bigger co-op.”
The Lee co-op includes the Dixon, Nelson and Paw Paw school districts. Last year, three other Lee County districts – Steward, Amboy and Ashton-Franklin Center – left to join the Ogle co-op, which now has 13 member districts.
Lagerblade said Ogle is not the only option he plans to consider.
He said he also will explore membership in the Bi-County Special Educational Cooperative, which comprises 12 school districts in Whiteside and Carroll counties.
He said he will turn his findings over to Dixon’s new superintendent Mike Juenger, who will take over July 1.
The Lee/Ogle Regional Board of School Trustees will hold a hearing on Byron’s petition to withdraw from OCEC on March 11. The move requires the approval of the seven-member regional board.
Byron school officials notified the Executive Board in August of their intent to withdraw from the co-op as of June 30, the end of the school year, and to provide special education services for their own students on a “stand-alone” basis.
Byron’s decision met with opposition from school officials in the other OCEC member districts.
The Oregon School Board passed a resolution Feb. 16 opposing the withdrawal.
Oregon’s resolution said Byron’s withdrawal will disrupt established OCEC programs, increase the cost of educating students with disabilities, and “thereby negatively impact this school district’s financial condition and the educational services provided by the board of education.”
The Polo School Board passed a similar resolution Feb. 16 and Forrestville Valley followed suit 2 days later.
