[il-talk] Fwd: Google Alert - "Illinois school for the visually impaired"

[Bill Reif]

Hello Glenn and List,

I have a Google Alert set up as well; and my message had a link to an 
article this one doesn't seem to have. For convenience, I have pasted 
the text from the McDonough Voice article to this message. This 
scaled-down bill is actually a good thing. Parents whose children attend 
these schools still pay considerably less for activities, supplies, etc. 
than similarly-situated public school children.

Cordially,
Bill

ISD, ISVI, to charge fees for non-academic services
By CHRIS WETTERICH
GateHouse News Service
Posted Jan 18, 2012 @ 06:00 PM
SPRINGFIELD -- Gov. Pat Quinn has signed a bill that allows the
Illinois School for the Deaf
and the
Illinois School for the Visually Impaired
to charge fees for non-academic services, such as sports, that in some 
cases used
to be free.
Senate Bill 274
revises earlier legislation that required a financial analysis for each 
student attending
the schools, both of which are in Jacksonville, and an analysis of the 
cost of non-education-related
services.
Each parent of a student would have had to disclose his or her income to 
the state
and prove it. Parents of children who live at one of the schools were to 
have been
charged for room and board based upon a sliding scale determined by income.
That legislation, sponsored by state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, 
and Sen. Heather
Steans, D-Chicago, was determined to run afoul of federal law. 
Feigenholtz has been
a staunch opponent of state institutions, instead of community-based 
entities, for
children with special needs.
There was also talk in the Quinn administration in 2011 of closing the 
two schools,
a discussion described by officials as "just a budget exercise."
Federal law guarantees students in special education a free and 
appropriate education,
said Mary Lauderdale, the superintendent of both schools.
“As the Department of Human Services looked at the bill, it didn’t 
comply with the
individuals with disabilities act,” she said. “This puts that bill in 
compliance
and calls for basic registration and fees.”
The School for the Deaf has traditionally imposed certain fees. An 
athletic fee is
being added. Fees have not been charged at the School for the Visually 
Impaired.
The new fees vary, depending on the student’s participation in 
activities, and would
max out at around $200 for athletes, Lauderdale said.
Rep. Jim Watson, R-Jacksonville, the House sponsor, said DHS initiated 
the bill.
“They found there are limits to what they can charge people based on 
federal law,”
he said. “That was an initiative of the agency.”
Parents have not complained about the cost, Lauderdale said, adding that 
families
below the poverty line do not have to pay any fees.
“They see the importance of the school,” Lauderdale said. “They’ve 
gotten a pretty
good bargain up until now. We are having no problem collecting those fees.”
The fees also allow the schools to make the case that families are 
paying something
for the services they are getting. There is no estimate of how much 
money will be
raised by the fees, Lauderdale said.
“Something is better than nothing,” she said. “We want to be as much 
like a regular
school as possible.”
Chris Wetterich can be reached at (217) 788-1523.
1
Copyright 2012 McDonough County The Voice. Some rights reserved




On 1/20/2012 10:22 AM, GlennMooreIII at yahoo.com wrote:
> Is there a complete version of the article?
>
> -Glenn III
> (from iPhone: 1 (847) 899-9801)
>
> On Jan 19, 2012, at 18:44, Denise Avant<dravant at ameritech.net>  wrote:
>
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Google Alerts<googlealerts-noreply at google.com>
> Subject: Google Alert - "Illinois school for the visually impaired"
> Date: January 19, 2012 3:34:41 PM CST
> To: denise.avant at gmail.com
>
> News    1 new result for "Illinois school for the visually impaired"
>
> ISD, ISVI, to charge fees for non-academic services
> McDonough Voice
> Pat Quinn has signed a bill that allows the Illinois School for the Deaf and the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired to charge fees for non-academic ...
>
> Tip: Use quotes ("like this") around a set of words in your query to match them exactly. Learn more.
>
> Delete this alert.
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>
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