Uncertainty surrounds the future of educational cooperative TrueNorth, with many of its 18 member districts having submitted, or planning to submit, petitions of withdrawal.
Kurt Schneider, superintendent of TrueNorth 804, said discussions are still ongoing about what the future will hold, but emphasized there are no planned changes for the 2025-2026 school year, and at this time, none of the districts have left the cooperative. According to Schneider, over 2,000 students utilize TrueNorth services in some form.
The first school to move towards withdrawal was Glenview School District 34, which has previously said it no longer has students who utilize the cooperative’s services. Its effective withdrawal date would be July 1, 2026, Schneider said.
One of the latest was Deerfield Public Schools District 109, which approved a petition to withdraw on Tuesday evening. Kelly Jakymiw, vice president of the District 109 board and president of the TrueNorth Leadership Council, said none of 109’s students utilize TrueNorth buildings.
TrueNorth has a nearly seven-decade legacy; originally founded in 1960 as the Northern Suburban Special Education District, it provides “life-changing” educational services to students with disabilities, Schneider said in a letter sent to cooperative parents.
But since then, many school districts have worked to expand their own special education programs and services, prompting “discussion about their ongoing need to participate in a cooperative and the best use of public funding that supports this work,” Schneider said.
Withdrawal is a two-year process, Schneider said in the letter, and any district that initiates it can always stop that procedure and revisit their decision. He expects the cooperative will have more information to share during the early part of the next school year on what will come next.
“The bottom line is that all students and families will continue to receive the special education programs and services they need,” the letter said. “What we do not yet know is whether it will be through a cooperative or at the individual school district level.”
During 109’s board meeting, Jakymiw said TrueNorth’s leadership council will be considering an amendment easing TrueNorth’s withdrawal process by limiting the scope of potentially “cumbersome, expensive and inefficient” evaluations to focus on the district’s capacity to meet the needs of students currently being served by the cooperative.
Jakymiw also said another resolution requesting more information about what an “orderly dissolution” would look like for the cooperative passed during a previous meeting, and she expected a presentation to be brought back to the council during their August meeting.
Despite the uncertainty, Schneider emphasized the process has been “professional” and “collaborative.”
“People are looking to make sure what is in the best interest of students is continuing to be front and center,” he said.
