PONTIAC - The Pontiac elementary school board voted unanimously Thursday night to withdraw from a 30-year partnership with the Livingston County Special Services Unit.

The district opted to end the relationship because an internal review showed it has the resources to expand its existing special education program and would receive state money in the process.

"This has been a long process and tedious while being very trying and challenging … but we have an agreement," school Superintendent Steve Graham said.

The district, which pays the unit about $45,000 a year for special education services, expects to end the relationship by late June.

In a study which began in December 2007 and ended in May, the district discovered it could receive around $400,000 a year in federal money if it became independent of the unit. Officials also determined the district already has programs and staff to fill the gap.

A previously scheduled hearing on the separation was cancelled. Graham said there now will be a hearing Dec. 2, but the only thing expected to happen then is approval of the agreement by the two sides.

Officials in Springfield will review the agreement Dec. 1.

The school district's special needs coordinator, Cheryl Corrigan, said the unit conducted its own impact study. The school district is the largest one in the unit, representing about 20 percent of its student population.

"Other districts and members will be assessed more, and it shouldn't really be a large amount," she said of the financial impact.