5% Raises Ahead For La Grange-Based Agency Leader

LA GRANGE, IL – The head of a La Grange-based special education cooperative is slated to get annual raises for the next five years before her planned retirement.

Under a new contract, Ellie Ambuehl, executive director of the La Grange Area Department of Special Education, will get 5.2 percent hikes.

Last month, the board approved her five-year contract, which Patch obtained through a public records request.

In 2018, Ambuehl was hired with a $160,000 salary, with her salary rising to $180,000 three years later.

Starting in July, her pay will be $209,056. By the time of her 2030 retirement, her salary will be $256,537 – 60 percent above her starting salary a dozen years earlier.

In an email to Patch this week, Ambuehl said she plans to retire at the end of her contract on June 30, 2030.

"The increases included in my contract closely mirror the retirement benefits our collective bargaining unit, LADSE-A, negotiated for their current contract," Ambuehl said.

The agency, better known as LADSE, now has 415 employees, with a budget of $32.3 million this year, she said.

It directly provides programming to about 300 students, ages 3 to 22, across 15 member school districts. It also serves 60 students in the deaf and hard-of-hearing program.

Additionally, the agency provides support services to students for such things as occupational therapy, physical therapy, social work, and speech and language therapy.

The member districts are in La Grange, Western Springs, Darien and Burr Ridge, among other towns.

The agency's board members are superintendents from the participating districts.