The Fergus Falls Area Special Education Cooperative (FFASEC) District #935, is made up of nine (9) school districts.  The districts are Ashby, Battle Lake, Breckenridge, Campbell-Tintah, Fergus Falls, Fergus Falls Area Special Education Cooperative, Pelican Rapids, Rothsay and Underwood.  The total geographic area served by the FFASEC is about 50 miles north to south and 50 miles east to west.

The FFASEC was started in 1976 so that school districts could share special education services.  The original 1976 Joint Powers Agreement for the FFASEC states:

“WHEREAS, the parties of this Agreement have as one of their purposes the provision of special education services to handicapped young people, and

WHEREAS, it is felt by each member district that this can best be accomplished by cooperative efforts…… that hereby there is established a special education cooperative to be known as Fergus Falls Area Special Education Cooperative under the Joint Powers of the State of Minnesota.”

A joint powers board of all districts’ superintendents and one school board member from each district governs the Cooperative.  The full board meets four times a year at 12:30 p.m., on the second Monday in July, October, January, and April.  The executive board, consisting of four members of the Cooperative Board, meets monthly on the second Monday at 12:30 p.m.  Together, the Cooperative school districts have 6,662 students in public schools and 455 students in non-public schools in the different communities.  There are 54 employees in the Cooperative, including full and part time staff.