Kane County Reporter

At the Jan. 24 meeting of the Batavia Public School District 101 Board of Education, Kari Ruh, the director of special education, and Bradley Verthein, the director of student services, presented their department's annual report. 

“The roles and responsibilities of special education and student services is very broad,” Ruh said. “We provide an array of services for families and individual needs from birth through post-secondary education, so that is students that have special education needs, that need support post high school where they get services to the age of 22. And while the students are here in Batavia, we support special education programs at our early childhood center at Alice Gustafson, 504 plans, nursing services, requests for homebound instruction, McKenney Vento eligible students, which some people may refer to students that qualify for homelessness status, social emotional learning, which includes instruction, intervention, home hospital coordination, private and parochial services. So we partner with a lot of our parochial schools in the area to make sure that those students' needs are met when they qualify. And we really are a prevention focus and work through our multi-tiered systems of support. So we want to make sure that our students get access to supports and services prior to that sense of failure.”

The board was told the district currently has 929 students in its special education program from preschool through the maximum age of 22. It has been focusing on professional development and training in the younger grades to help teachers implement and enforce classroom management. The secondary levels have been working on meeting individual needs in the classroom and supporting social emotional needs before any interventions need to happen.

The board was told that though the district and program have incredible staff and have a lot to celebrate and praise, the last ten years have called for an increase in special education programs and facilities. There has been an increase in students with disabilities, up to 14.5% now, and Batavia has a 15% student population of students with disabilities. Staff is constantly striving to make sure all the needs of students in their buildings are being met.

The department is hoping to be able to improve their students’ outcomes and performances, per the district’s wishes, and will be focusing on increasing the intensity of their instructional practices, reviewing the supplemental supports they use for students showing various needs, particularly in social emotional areas, and continuing to support professional development so that teachers and staff have the best knowledge and skill to use in socially and culturally sensitive cases.

The board also discussed approving a one-year contract for mental health support services with Modern Health, an online mental health platform, and paying no more than $110,000.

Board member Craig Meadows was absent from the meeting.

The board will meet again at 7 p.m. on Feb. 21 at the Rosalie Jones Administration Center on 335 West Wilson St.