Liz Lane, assistant director for Macon‑Piatt Special Education District, briefed the board July 15 on the cooperative’s programs and proposed tentative budget for fiscal year 2025–26.
Lane said Macon‑Piatt is a joint agreement among Decatur and 11 surrounding districts that provides special-education and related services to approximately 3,100 students across member districts, employing roughly 300 people. The cooperative’s executive board comprises the 12 member superintendents; Decatur serves as administrative and fiscal agent and the Decatur board ratifies some cooperative actions.
Programs described included early‑childhood special education, life‑skills and essential‑skills classes, a social-emotional learning academy, itinerant services for students who are blind/visually impaired or deaf/hard of hearing, and related therapies (occupational, physical, speech) and vocational/transition services. Lane said the cooperative budget is approximately $23,000,000 and that revenue comes from several sources; the executive board annually votes on member assessments to cover cooperative costs.
Lane and her team said the cooperative’s biggest current concern is staffing shortages, which have reduced programming robustness and increased requests for private-day and residential placements. They noted the cooperative’s teachers for visually impaired and deaf/hard-of-hearing students are statewide leaders and said current goals include increasing inclusive placements and measurable IEP progress.
Following the presentation, the board voted to approve the tentative budget and to set a public hearing on the Macon‑Piatt tentative budget for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 19 at the Kyle Administration Building.