Special Education:

Goals of the program:

• maintain and improve the current program across the district to provide an inclusive education
• continue to offer a broad array of services in least restrictive manner as a mandate per the federal and state regulations
• remain committed to collaboration with regular educators

Overall, there are 2407 special education students, based on October 2010 numbers.  This is a growth of 71 students over the October 2009 figures.  In January 2010, autism, communication, health and neurological disabilities were identified as areas of growth; all except communications disabilities are still areas of growth in January 2011.  Finally, the financial figures for Out-Of-District placements represent the costs for 144 students, just 1.2% of the total NPS student population.

Author’s Note:  The theme running through the following list is that there are beneficial structural changes taking place within the Student Services department, though staffing levels are low.  While the department will aim high, in some cases there might be significant staffing challenges.  Overall, the Assistant Superintendent of Student Services reported the process to be complicated, thoughtful, evolving and collaborative.

Elementary Special Education:

What is preserved:

• inclusion facilitators
• co-taught classrooms
• social workers and school psychologists [This was a significant area for principals, who feel that one of the biggest needs in the schools is mental health support.]

What is the new initiative:

• new co-taught classrooms at schools that currently already have at least one
• new co-taught classrooms at 3 additional schools

Principals at schools with these classrooms saw success this year and are enthusiastic about expanding the program where it makes sense.  It maximizes the ratio of highly qualified teachers to students, but student groupings are carefully and thoughtfully considered.  The classes are made up of 30% special needs children and 70% typical children.

What is not preserved:

• 5 FTE (Full-time equivalent) Special Education Aides
• 2 FTE Behavioral Therapists

The School Committee asks to hear from parents on these changes, and in particular about their experiences in the co-taught classes.  Are parents as satisfied with the classes as NPS staff?  The SC also expressed concern about coverage to help with students in the class and at lunch, since ISS and the number of aides are both being cut.  There was also a discussion about the possibility of turning the pre-school program into a revenue-generating program, and what it would take to make that happen.  This is quite complicated but may be worth looking at in the future.

Middle Schools:

What is preserved:

• learning disabilities teacher/aide at Day
• programs to meet wide range of student needs

What is the initiative:

• restructure Day Middle School’s 3 special education programs (integration/neighborhood inclusion/Bridge):   This will preserve the three different programs, but allow “cross-pollination of students and staff” to provide a more comprehensive approach to meeting students’ needs.  Small group instruction across these programs is expected to improve.  This is an example of a change that the Ed Center would want to do regardless of the budget situation.

What is not preserved:

• 1.5 FTE Special education teacher staff
• 3.3 FTE special education aides
• .6 FTE behavior therapist

While the main initiative is at Day, the other three middle schools will see only small reductions in aides.

High Schools:

What is preserved:

• Central High School (CHS)
• .8 FTE Reading specialist at Newton North High School (NNHS)
• Programs to meet the wide range of student needs

What is the initiative:

• .5 FTE Reading specialist at NNHS
• .6 FTE Reading specialist at NSHS
• Addition of the ABA program at NSHS
• Tuition in students to CHS from outside Newton [The legality of this initiative is still being determined by City lawyers.  However, there has been a lot of interest from outside Newton in this program and, if legal, could present a revenue-creating opportunity.  Increasing the size of this program, though, should be done cautiously and thoughtfully.]

What is not preserved:

• 4.2 FTE Special education teaching staff
• 3.8 FTE Special education aides
• current caseload sizes, which will be a challenge

Much of the staff reductions will take place at NSHS, as both high schools shared ideas and found that many efficiencies can be made at South.  These changes work to “break down the silos” between programs and adjust their structure at NSHS to be more beneficial to students.

District-Wide:

What is preserved:

• .6 FTE Assistive technology specialist
• 1 FTE Transition specialist
• .9 FTE Job developer
• Elementary stabilization program
• Adaptive PE teacher
• Assistive technologies and supplies

What is the initiative:

• 1 FTE BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Therapist)
• .4 FTE Music therapist [This new in-house position will replace 4 different contractors.]

What is not preserved:

• District-wide intern program with Lesley College [This program is being reduced, and will reshaped into a smaller program.]
• .5 FTE Speech/language therapy services
• .5 FTE Speech/language and occupational therapy services in the Early Childhood Program

The SC expressed concern about the cuts to the Early Childhood Program support, and heard about the advantage to adding one more BCBA position

ELL Program: This will be an increase in staff related to the increasing ELL population in the Newton Public Schools–over 100 more students this year than last.  The summer school program for ELL students was discussed, with the idea of expanding it to incoming students.

Curriculum & Instruction/Professional Development (PD): This area will see the loss of a .5 FTE secretary.  Otherwise, ongoing initiatives will continue to be funded, as well as new work on the common core standards.  Over the years, the type of PD has shifted, with more coming from “in-house.”

Career & Tech Ed: This department is included in the changes at the high schools–the reduction of FTEs will be considered along with NSHS and NNHS over the next few weeks.  Until registration is complete, the changes to this program are unknown.  They will try to maintain what they have now, as the Career & Tech Ed classes are growing, but have taken cuts in recent years.  Breadth of programming will be protected as much as possible, with the possibility of a rise in class size where possible.

The next meeting on the budget is Monday night, starting at 7 p.m. at the Ed Center.  The topics will be in the non-instructional areas:  School Committee, Central Staff, Human Resources, Operations, Transportation, Food Services, Business, Finance & Planning, as well as fees.