Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Special Education Expansion topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Erie 1 BOCES proposes centralized special-education campus, targets September 2026 opening
Summary
Erie 1 BOCES told the Kenmore-Tonawanda Board of Education it is planning a leased, centralized special-education campus to expand capacity for K–12 students with significant needs and to respond to regional demand; officials said they aim to open in September 2026 and are negotiating a preferred property with a developer.
Erie 1 BOCES officials told the Kenmore-Tonawanda Union Free School District Board of Education on Jan. 14 that they are planning a centralized, leased campus to expand special-education capacity and accommodate a growing regional need.
The expansion is aimed at creating a single-story, state-of-the-art facility with modern learning labs, courtyards and a full continuum of K–12 programming. "Our goal is to open this campus as soon as September of '26," Dr. Michael Capuana, District Superintendent of Erie 1 BOCES, said. He said the BOCES is negotiating with the preferred property owner and working with Buffalo Construction Consultants as its lease representative.
The BOCES presentation said demand for special-education placements in Erie 1 has risen over recent years, including a roughly 33% increase in students identified on the autism spectrum in Western New York. Capuana said the region has seen both rising classifications and constrained placement capacity at existing sites at Northtowns and Winchester. "These pieces — the increased demand, the shift in needs, and the space we’re currently occupying — have driven us to be proactive about a plan to continue to serve students," he said.
Capuana gave capacity figures for existing sites: about 130 students at the Northtowns campus and roughly 110 at Winchester. The request-for-proposal the BOCES issued targeted a campus of roughly 180,000 square feet, which organizers say could serve about 180–200 additional K–12 students on top of current programs. BOCES also listed satellite classrooms at Maryvale and alternative programs at Pine Hill and Cheektowaga as part of the broader network under review.
The effort began as a regional planning process more than two years ago, Capuana said, and has included superintendents and special-education leaders across Erie County. He described the campus as a lease, not a purchase: "The notion is not to buy a property at this point, but to lease a property," he said, adding that the Erie 1 board has passed a resolution allowing staff to pursue the partnership with Buffalo Construction Consultants.
Kenmore-Tonawanda Superintendent Samato thanked Capuana for the presentation and described the regional planning process as an opportunity to surface shared issues such as transportation and staffing. A board member asked how the BOCES planned to recruit teachers and related-service staff for the expansion; Capuana said the BOCES is partnering with higher-education institutions and aligning human-resources planning with the proposed programming.
The presentation did not include a final site address, binding financing terms or a complete staffing plan; Capuana said negotiations with the property representative are ongoing and that BOCES will keep component districts informed as details firm up.
Kenmore-Tonawanda officials did not take a formal vote on the BOCES plan during the Jan. 14 meeting. Dr. Capuana and district staff said follow-up meetings and updates to component superintendents are planned as the project advances.
