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Garfield Heights special education director outlines programs and staffing shortfalls
Summary
Director Jonah Forte told the school board the district has 511 students in special education, dozens of outside placements and heavy reliance on contracted staff, and described programs aimed at improving graduation and mental-health support.
Jonah Forte, the district's director of special education, presented the department's annual report to the Garfield Heights City Schools board on Sept. 15, detailing student counts, staffing levels, and active programs. Forte said the district currently serves 511 students identified for special education services and has 38 students placed outside district schools, down from 52 a year earlier. He said 64 students use the John Peterson and autism scholarship options and that placements take students to roughly 18 external locations. Forte described current staffing: 36 intervention specialists distributed across buildings, six speech-language pathologists, seven combined occupational/physical therapists, 28 paraprofessionals focused on special education classrooms, six nurses (with a seventh to be added), and four board-certified behavior…
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