District 211 board ratifies NSSEO budget amid facility and staffing concerns

The Township High School District 211 Board of Education ratified the Northwest Suburban Special Education Organization’s (NSSEO) amended 2024–25 budget and approved the proposed 2025–26 budget following a budget presentation by NSSEO leaders.

NSSEO Superintendent Dr. Mike Schnoor and Gavin McGinn, NSSEO Assistant Superintendent of Business Services, told the board that the cooperative’s tuition rates for member districts will increase modestly next year — the Kirk School tuition rose about 3.8% and the deaf and hard‑of‑hearing program rose about 3.2% — and that the organization is removing one‑time capital items to show a roughly 1.5% operational increase year over year.

Why it matters: NSSEO serves District 211 students with significant disabilities through programs such as Kirk School and the deaf and hard‑of‑hearing program at Hersey, and the cooperative’s budget changes affect District 211’s special‑education spending and placement capacity.

Gavin McGinn said, “NSSEO has what's called a 0 balance budget, so that means that our expenditures and revenues match identically.” He told the board the cooperative returned $125,000 to District 211 last year after auditing results and that year‑to‑year cash adjustments vary with enrollment.

The presentation and subsequent discussion identified three operational points of note:

- Enrollment and tuition: District 211 is projected to send 94 students to Kirk next year, an increase of about five students. NSSEO also forecasts an increase in “youth‑in‑care” (McKinney‑Vento/homeless) students to 20, which McGinn said raises costs; he summarized the district’s net increase from NSSEO at roughly $430,000 and a youth‑in‑care increase of about $450,000 for the coming year. The district also continues to purchase fractional staff time (for example, 0.4 FTE of physical therapy and 0.6 of a coach).

- Facilities and capital work: NSSEO reported deferred maintenance across its campuses and described a priority HVAC upgrade at Kirk. McGinn said a rooftop unit shortage had left systems running at half capacity: “the HVAC system was only functioning at half capacity and the pieces that were needed for this were were so outdated that the only where we only place we can find it was from the other rooftop unit on our building.” NSSEO has identified about $3 million in HVAC work; McGinn removed that one‑time cost from the operational comparison to show the underlying recurring increase.

- Non‑member placements and fees: NSSEO said it serves non‑member districts as capacity allows and charges non‑member districts an additional 30% above member tuition; it also charges a one‑time facilities contribution that was described as $4,000 (up from $2,000) for new non‑member placements to help offset capital needs.

Board action and next steps: After the presentation the District 211 board approved a motion to ratify NSSEO’s amended 2024–25 budget and to ratify and agree to pay the district’s proportionate share of the proposed 2025–26 budget. The board also adopted a resolution clarifying the responsibilities of District 211’s NSSEO governing‑board representative; Board Member Steven Rosenblum will serve as the district’s representative and will bring items back to the full board as requested.

NSSEO leaders said they are pursuing grants and capital assistance; McGinn noted a DECO grant of about $750,000 toward the Kirk HVAC project and an additional $500,000 offer under consideration for window replacement work. The cooperative is developing a preventive maintenance plan and has engaged an outside recruiter, Sunburst Advisors, to help source healthcare and related‑services staff.

The board president said the district’s NSSEO representative will circulate governing‑board materials to District 211 board members in advance of NSSEO votes, per a new responsibility resolution adopted by the board.