Parents Push L-Way Special Education Board For Playground Fence

FRANKFORT, IL — A group of Lincoln-Way Area Special Education District 843 parents are calling on the district's board to install a fence around the grounds at the school for student safety.

Parents have spoken out at board meetings, and even recently created a petition asking the District to install fencing, specifically around the playground of the school. There has been little response from the district, parents told Patch.

Laila Yassin, who started the petition, told Patch that she has been at every Board meeting since April, asking the Board why there's no fence at the school. Last spring, her son "eloped," or ran away, from the playground at the school.

Yassin said her son is on the autism spectrum, and "if a child with autism doesn't see a visual barrier, that means the space is free-range to them."

At the Board meetings, Yassin said she has been given little to no response from the governing board, and has been told that, "we'll look into it."

According to the petition, parents have described incidents where children have run off to potentially harmful areas, including a retention pond, nearby streets and a parking lot.

Elopement can be a common occurrence for people with autism. A 2018 study funded by Autism Speaks showed that nearly half of survey respondents reported that their child with an autism spectrum disorder had attempted to elope at least once after they were 4 years old.

The special education district serves students across the Lincoln-Way area, from ages 3 to 22. The District is served by a governing board with representatives from area school districts: Jim Martin (Summit Hill 161), Terry Doyle (Manhattan 114), Anna Briscoe (Mokena 159), Dana Bergthold (Lincoln-Way 210) and Ann Zaremba (Frankfort 157-C).

The District has classes that meet at Pioneer Grove Educational Center, 601 Willow St. in Frankfort.

When asked about the installation of a fence, Executive Director Sarah Rexroad told Patch on Monday that the matter "remains under consideration by the cooperative." She was not able to provide any other specifics.

At the District's Board meeting on Tuesday, there was no agenda item listed for action on installing a fence. Parents told Patch the Board did discuss a grant application, where a "partial" use of the money could be used toward a fence if the Board decided to. However, no action on any installation was taken.

The petition calling for a fence had gathered over 1,200 signatures, as of Wednesday.