Student Services
Director—Cindy Phelps
Phone: 847-963-3149
E-mail: phelpsc@ccsd15.net
Community Consolidated School District 15 is committed to providing a high quality education to all students in the community—including nearly 13 percent of the district’s students whose unique needs require special services and programs to enable them to learn to the best of their abilities.
Currently about 1,600 children are provided with special education programs and services in accordance with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and with state legislation as regulated by the Illinois Administrative Code. IDEA identifies 13 specific categories of disability.
Policy Statement, Least Restrictive Environment, Illinois State Board of Education (PDF 56KB)
Notice of Procedural Safeguards for Parents/Guardians of Students with Disabilities
Approximately 80 percent of special education students within the district spend all or part of their days in regular education classes. They receive support as needed from full- and part-time staff members at each school, including learning disabilities (LD) and behavior disorders (BD) teachers, speech and language pathologists, social workers, school psychologists, occupational and physical therapists, inclusion facilitators, and specialists who work with hearing and visually impaired students. When appropriate, students are assigned to self-contained special education classes located in various schools across the district. Students in these classrooms have frequent opportunities to interact with their peers from regular education classes; for example, during music and art, on the playground, or in other structured activities.
Special education services are coordinated by the district’s Student Services Department, located at the Joseph M. Kiszka Educational Service Center. Qualified staff members serve as coordinators for each of the programs provided (see list below).
The first step for parents of children who have special needs is to contact the principal of the child’s home school. The principal, in cooperation with Student Services, will arrange for assessment and evaluation as needed before a determination of services is made. For information about any of the specific services offered in District 15, parents may contact any of the following coordinators:
Paul Budin
847-963-3159
E-mail: budinp@ccsd15.net
Social Work Services
Rebecca Born
847-963-3157
E-mail: bornr@ccsd15.net
Speech/Language Impairment
Carol Curry
847-963-3156
E-mail: curryc@ccsd15.net
Adaptive Physical Education
Behavioral/Emotional Disorder (resource and self-contained programs)
Specific Learning Disability (resource and self-contained programs)
Dana Martelli
847-963-3404
E-mail: martelld@ccsd15.net
Early Childhood
Peg Lasiewicki
847-963-3400
E-mail: lasiewip@ccsd15.net
Behavior Disorder Therapeutic Day Program
Susan Arndt
847-963-3151
E-mail: arndts@ccsd15.net
Health Services
Occupational Therapy
Physical Therapy
Christine Turner
847-963-3152
E-mail: turnerc@ccsd15.net
Psychology Services
Amanda Bruce
847-963-3153
E-mail: brucea@ccsd15.net
Autism—Structured for Independence Program (SIP)
Deaf/Blind
Hearing Impairment
Inclusion Facilitators
Mental Impairment
Multiple Disabilities
Orthopedic Impairment
Sign Language Interpreters
Visual Impairment
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