Flossmoor, IL: District spends $2.5M to educate 46 special needs students out-of-district;
Flossmoor School District 161 spent $2,508,020 during the 2025–26 school year to educate students with specialized needs at private schools outside the district, according to a report presented to the Board of Education on Oct. 26.
The district anticipates receiving approximately $1,672,102 in state reimbursements, leaving a difference of approximately $835,918 between expenditures and estimated reimbursement.
The report, prepared by Jackie Janicke, the district’s director of special education, outlined enrollment trends, placement costs and state reimbursements associated with providing services that the district cannot currently offer within its schools.
Out-of-district placements are necessary when students require specialized educational services beyond those available through the district’s existing special education programs.
Enrollment figures show that 46 students attended private, out-of-district schools during the 2025–26 school year, a decrease from 51 students in 2024–25.
The number of students receiving these services has fluctuated over the past six years, increasing from 36 in 2021–22 to a peak of 51 in 2024–25. The district reported 33 placements in 2022–23 and 41 in 2023–24.
For the current 2026–27 school year, the district reports 46 students attending private out-of-district schools, unchanged from the previous year.
Students receiving these placements have a range of disabilities, including autism, developmental delays, emotional disabilities, intellectual disabilities and multiple disabilities.
According to the report, 25 of the 46 students placed outside the district during the current school year are identified as having autism, representing more than half of all placements. . . .
District officials anticipate that expenditures and state reimbursements will remain comparable during the current fiscal year.
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