D97 Student Services Department
In the Loop: News for Families
Dear Families,
Happy May! As we all prepare for the end of the year, we wanted to thank you for being a part of the Special Education Parent Advisory Committee this year.
SEPAC is a district-wide, parent-driven group that provides input to school leaders on Special Education services and programs. As a group, we identified some real pain points that families are having in the district–and we’re excited to take steps to ensure your student(s) and your families feel more included, more aware of the resources available to you, and more empowered in your advocacy to best support your child. If you weren’t able to make it to a meeting this year, we hope you’ll consider attending next year!
Student Services has put together a survey, below, to help guide our work in the 2026-27 school year. We have plans to add committee work to SEPAC–an actionable arm to our amazing group. The committees and a brief definition are below:
Best Buddies and Nora Project - Evaluate these programs where they exist in the district and consider ways to expand what is working well.
Representation - Advocate with key stakeholders for representation in areas like library books, One Book One District, school-wide assemblies, and DivCo activities and celebrations.
Communication and Outreach - Help us reach more families to attend Student Services programming, ensure communication for Special Education opportunities is present in principal and PTO communications.
Parent representative at each school - One representative from each school to serve as a point person for families, leadership, faculty, staff, and PTOs.
Please take the 2-minute survey and let us know if you have interest or talents that could serve one of these committees. We will circle back in the fall.
Please also mark your calendars for next year’s meetings, which will take place the third Wednesday of each month, 6:30-8 pm at Beye: 9/16 (potluck), 10/21, 11/18, 12/16, 1/20, 2/17, 3/17, 4/21, 5/19.
Feel free to reach out with any questions. Enjoy your summer and we look forward to working with you next year!
Liz Stanish elizabethstanish@gmail.com
Nancy Schroeder nancybschroeder@gmail.com
SEPAC Co-Chairs
District 97 Student Services Department
260 Madison Street
Oak Park, IL 60302
(708) 524-3030
studentservices@op97.org