Mahomet-Seymour board authorizes posting for two special-education positions and possible MLL hire

The Mahomet-Seymour CUSD 3 Board of Education on May 19 authorized administrators to post two additional special-education teaching positions, one at Middletown Prairie Elementary (MPE) and one at Lincoln Trail (LT), and granted permission to post an additional multilingual learner (MLL) teacher if enrollment warrants.

Superintendent Dr. Lee and district staff presented enrollment and caseload data showing rising multilingual learner counts and tightly loaded special-education caseloads. Staff said MLL enrollment rose from about 70 at the same point last year to 106 this year and that general caseload pressure approaches district thresholds used to justify additional hires.

Administrators told the board the district supports students who exit MLL services for two years of monitoring, which affects staffing calculations, and that the district is serving students speaking more than 20 languages. Board members asked about thresholds and current counts; staff said caseloads are approaching the level (roughly 115 students districtwide) that would make an additional MLL position necessary.

The board voted to authorize posting for the two special-education positions immediately and authorized the superintendent to post an MLL position if the MLL enrollment threshold is reached; the superintendent will notify the board prior to posting the MLL vacancy. District staff said the postings will be budget-checked and coordinated with Human Resources and that hiring remains subject to budget availability and candidate pool constraints.