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<H1 class="featured_headline entry-title"><FONT face="Times New Roman"><EM><A
href="http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/news/state_news/x255293249/ISD-ISVI-to-charge-fees-for-non-academic-services">ISD,
ISVI, to charge fees for non-academic services</A>.</EM></FONT></H1>
<DIV class="author vcard"><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN class=fn><B>By
CHRIS WETTERICH</B></SPAN> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV class="source-org vcard"><A class="url org fn"
href="http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com"><FONT face="Times New Roman">GateHouse News
Service</FONT></A><FONT face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV class="tease_timestamp published" title=2012-01-18T18:00:14Z><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Posted Jan 18, 2012 @ 06:00 PM</FONT></DIV>
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<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">SPRINGFIELD -- Gov. Pat Quinn has signed a bill
that allows the </FONT><A href="http://morgan.k12.il.us/isd/"><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Illinois School for the Deaf</FONT></A><FONT
face="Times New Roman"> and the </FONT><A href="http://www.isvi.net/"><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Illinois School for the Visually Impaired</FONT></A><FONT
face="Times New Roman"> to charge fees for non-academic services, such as
sports, that in some cases used to be free.</FONT></P>
<P><A
href="http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=274&GAID=11&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=55061&SessionID=84&GA=97"><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Senate Bill 274</FONT></A><FONT face="Times New Roman">
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.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">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. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">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.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">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."</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Federal law guarantees students in special
education a free and appropriate education, said Mary Lauderdale, the
superintendent of both schools.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">“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.”</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">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.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">The new fees vary, depending on the student’s
participation in activities, and would max out at around $200 for athletes,
Lauderdale said.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Rep. Jim Watson, R-Jacksonville, the House
sponsor, said DHS initiated the bill.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">“They found there are limits to what they can
charge people based on federal law,” he said. “That was an initiative of the
agency.”</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Parents have not complained about the cost,
Lauderdale said, adding that families below the poverty line do not have to pay
any fees.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">“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.”</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">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.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">“Something is better than nothing,” she said.
“We want to be as much like a regular school as possible.”</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman"><EM>Chris Wetterich can be reached at (217)
788-1523.</EM><BR> </FONT></P></DIV></DIV>
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