The Taylorville School Board took the first step to creating a special education cooperative with the Nokomis and Pana School Districts. The board voted to pass a resolution for withdrawal from the Mid-State Special Education Joint Agreement at Monday night’s meeting.

Taylorville Schools Superintendent Dr. Gregg Fuerstenau told the board that leaving the cooperative will make attracting and retaining special education teachers easier for the district.

Fuerstenau says at the end of the day, he believes there’s no question leaving the Mid-State cooperative is the best decision for Taylorville kids.

After the Pana and Nokomis boards pass the same resolution, the next step would be to take the proposal to the Regional Office of Education board, who would grant or deny permission to take the proposal to the state board of education.

Also at Monday’s meeting, the board voted to move Stonington third graders to Memorial for the coming school year, along with approving a project to replace a boiler at Taylorville High School.