Board briefed on DuPage West Cook cooperative governance change; resolution to return for action

District 99 administrators briefed the board on a structural change planned for the DuPage West Cook (DWC) cooperative, an umbrella group of special education cooperatives covering multiple districts.

The presenter explained that District 99 participates in a special education cooperative (identified in the presentation as SASID) that is one of multiple cooperatives forming DuPage West Cook. The DWC group includes 92 school districts that jointly coordinate services and common rates for specialized programming. Administrators said the current governance model — a large board representing dozens of member districts and cooperatives — is unwieldy and that the DWC will shift to an oversight committee model in which different cooperatives will oversee specific program areas (for example, hearing impairment or other programmatic clusters).

The presenter said adopting the new governance structure requires each of the 92 member districts to approve a resolution. District 99 will review the intergovernmental agreement documents and the resolution will return to the board for action at the March 17 meeting. Administrators said the change is intended to improve efficiency in offering special education services across the Chicagoland area and to coordinate rates and service offerings across many districts.

No board action occurred at the meeting; administrators invited board questions and said they would present the full agreement and answer questions at the next meeting before seeking approval.