SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has ordered the transition of all students out of three facilities owned by Menta that were operating without state approval.
According to ISBE, the facilities began operation before being approved. All three have been operating as therapeutic day schools for students with significant social-emotional disabilities.
After receiving a complaint, ISBE made unannounced visits to the facilities last week to confirm reports of them operating without state approval.
During the visit, ISBE found "troubling restraint and time out practices at the Springfield and Centralia locations."
“We are committed to protecting the safety, wellbeing, and educational rights of every student impacted by this company’s malfeasance,” said State Superintendent of Education Dr. Tony Sanders. “It is egregious and unprecedented that the Menta Group would misrepresent its approval status to school districts and families and would put students’ safety and wellbeing at risk by operating unauthorized facilities. ISBE will do everything in our power to provide support to the school districts and families as they locate alternative placements for their students.”
In addition to operating without the required state approval, the facilities did not have the required contractual agreements with the students’ home school districts and did not at the time of enrollment have the required rates set by the Illinois Purchased Care Review Board.
Due to these violations and safety concerns, ISBE has denied the facilities’ applications for approval and has notified them to cease operations to students from Illinois public school districts as of Oct. 20.
Menta has 125 students from 41 school districts with locations in Springfield, Centralia, and LaSalle.
ISBE said the agency is doing what it can to ensure that students enrolled in these programs are able to continue accessing the Free Appropriate Public Education to which they are entitled during this transition. ISBE has scheduled a time to meet with all impacted districts to address questions and engage in problem-solving to identify new educational placements for impacted students.
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