North Cook News

Last week, Director of Student Services Alicia Norgard updated the Pennoyer School Board on special education in the district after the first trimester of the school year.

During the Nov. 9 meeting that was broadcast on YouTube, Norgard said that students who qualify for special education will have an individualized placement, ensuring the least-restrictive environment possible. The school district keeps it as routine and inclusive as possible, while also supporting the students’ needs.

“Everything that we do in our program is aligned to our mission and vision statement for the district. In the special education program, we really focus on our two core values of equity and inclusion,” Norgard said. “We want all of our students to feel like they have a sense of belonging and that they have access to all of the experiences and opportunities that the regular-ed peers would have.”

According to the slideshow presentation given by Norgard, there are 38 students in the district who receive special education services, with two at other facilities. There are five special education teachers in the district and three full-time staff members, including a speech pathologist, social worker and occupational therapist. The three staff members work with 20 to 40 students across all classrooms in the school district.

The district has two special education classrooms. Kindergarten through third grade has six students in the classroom this year, with fourth through eighth grade having seven. Last year, the district had three special education classrooms with seven, five and five students in them respectively. Currently there is an opening for a special education teacher that the district is actively seeking to fill.

“We’ve been partnering with local colleges seeing if we can get a December grad,” said Norgard. “Our fingers are crossed. We post the position every week. Even if we cannot find someone this school year, we will keep (attempting to hire) for next school year.”