Just 19 months after coming to Brookfield-LaGrange Park District 95 to return to district-level administration, Special Education Director Lesley Gottlinger will resign her post at the end of the 2006-07 school year. The District 95 school board voted to accept Gottlinger’s resignation at its Jan. 18 meeting after an executive session that night.
The board also voted that night to post the position of special education director so the district can begin a search for her replacement.
Superintendent Thomas Hurlburt did not address specific reasons related to Gottlinger’s decision to resign, saying only that the move will “enable her to pursue a different career experience. She’s looking for other career opportunities at this time.”
He added that he felt the district’s special education program was a good one, with excellent teachers, and that Gottlinger was leaving on amicable terms with the district.
Gottlinger provided a bit more insight into her decision to leave the district, hinting that she felt straitjacketed by the size of the special education staff and its budget. She said that she may seek out opportunities at the high school level or in “a bigger district where people don’t need to wear as many hats.”
“It has nothing to do with [District 95],” she said. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here and working with a really good, professional staff.”
The costs for special education in District 95 have risen dramatically in the last two years. In the 2004-05 school year, the Landmark reported that special education expenses were $58,000 more than the $380,000 budgeted for the program. In 2005-06, the district budgeted $420,000 but was nearly $150,000 over that budget by March 2006, with another $120,000 in expenses still expected to come.
Those surprises frustrated members of the District 95 school board, who asked that Hurlburt, who was hired last July, and Gottlinger, who started in District 95 in July 2005, pay specific attention to expenses related to special education while creating the 2006-07 budget.
Gottlinger said that she had little input into the 2005-06 budget process, but said her input this year made “a lot of difference.”
In addition to the closer look at special education in terms of budgeting, Hurlburt also instituted a regular check on those expenses through a monthly financial report to the board.
“We’re monthly monitoring all special education funds in a report generated for the board,” Hurlburt said. “It shows the progress of revenues as well as expenditures.”
Still, Gottlinger added that no matter how much the district budgeted for special education services, the district had no control over the number of new people requesting special education services from them.
“There’s no control over who moves into the district,” Gottlinger said, adding that she’s received calls from real estate agents on behalf of clients inquiring into the kinds of special education services the district might be able to offer.
“There’s only so much you can project with a crystal ball,” Gottlinger said.
Gottlinger said that at a minimum, the district needed to add more resource teachers at Brook Park School in LaGrange Park, where there are now two resource teachers serving five grade levels. S.E. Gross Middle School has four resource teachers, or one for every grade level. Those teachers are in addition to special education teachers (two at Brook Park and one at S.E. Gross) that teach within self-contained classrooms at the schools.
“We definitely need more resource help at Brook Park,” Gottlinger said.
Resource teachers work with children with less severe special education needs, according to Gottlinger. Resource teachers can pull out students needing special education services for subjects such as reading and language arts or co-teach in subjects like math.
“I know we’re stretching [resource teachers] thin,” Gottlinger said, “way thin. Without extra help it’s going to be difficult.”
Hurlburt acknowledged the special education staffing challenge at Brook Park School, saying that the district would be examining those levels for next year.
“We’re looking at things we need to enhance,” Hurlburt said. “We’re looking at the ratio of resource teachers to students and per grade level at Brook Park particularly.”
