The Galesburg Board of Education believes a federal district court erred in a recent decision that ruled in favor of Galesburg parents whose child has a disability.
District 205 Board of Education members on Monday voted 6-0, with one abstention, to proceed with an appeal of a federal lawsuit that went in favor of board member Pamella Bess-Tabb and her husband — parents of the child. Bess-Tabb did not vote.
In December, a federal judge reversed a previous administrative ruling and ordered Galesburg District 205 to keep a student with disabilities in the Galesburg school system instead of a school in Peoria. The judgment, filed on Dec. 6 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, ruled in favor of a lawsuit filed by the child’s parents.
After District 205 Board President Courtney Rodriguez read the agenda item at Monday’s meeting, the district’s attorney read a statement that said, “In early December, the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois issued an order in (Case No. 4:24-CV-04124). This vote would authorize appealing that order to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The translation of that is this would be the district challenging that order and seeking to have it overturned.”
Rodriguez then moved that the district move forward with the appeal, which was seconded by Board member Jake Taylor. There was no discussion before the board voted 6-0, with one abstention, to proceed with the appeal.
District 205 Superintendent of Schools John Asplund told WGIL after the meeting he could not comment on the specifics of the case, except to say, “We did not agree with the District Court’s ruling.”
