Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Special Education Facility topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Novi board hears plan for new separate special-education facility, including birth-to-3 and adult transition programs
Summary
District leaders described a renovated former sixth-grade house that will house four programs—birth-to-3, preschool, a K–12 separate special-education program and the Novi Adult Transition Center—intended to provide intensive, therapeutic services and support students' return to less restrictive settings when appropriate.
The Novi Community School District on April 24 detailed plans to open a separate special-education facility in the former sixth-grade house that will house four programs: birth-to-3, preschool, a K–12 separate special-education program and the Novi Adult Transition Center (NATC).
District officials said the facility is designed to deliver a “holistic care” approach and a “trifecta of therapeutic intervention” combining evidence-based practice, therapeutic alliance and student approach. The presentation was given by Special Education administrators and introduced by Superintendent Ben Micah.
Director of Special Education Shailene (Shaili) Patel said the new building will include a gymnasium, cafeteria, life-skill vocational rooms for the NATC, and a conference and media room for shared use. “This separate facility is going to have 4 programs,” Patel said. She described services intended to address behavior regulation, sensory integration and communication, and the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) tools for students who are nonverbal.
Patel said decisions to place a student in the separate facility will be made by the student’s individualized education program (IEP) team and supported by data: “It’s the IEP team that will say that a child needs a very, very therapeutic environment… The goal is always for our kids to be able to go back to the least restrictive environment.” She added the district will continue to provide transportation and opportunities for partial-day inclusion where appropriate.
Board members asked how the facility aligns with the least-restrictive-environment requirement. Patel reiterated that entry and exit criteria will mirror center-based programming and emphasized the IEP-team decision-making process, not an administrative directive.
Assistant superintendent and facilities staff showed a schematic of program adjacencies and said the plan follows the Michigan Department of Education’s environment continuum updated January 2025, placing Novi’s new separate facility as an available least-to-most-restrictive option within the district’s continuum of services.
During Q&A, trustees pressed on staffing, program goals and family reaction. Patel said the district expects to staff the birth-to-3 and preschool programs with current personnel and to grow K–12 staffing as enrollment increases; the NATC will initially use existing staff. She also said some families have already expressed enthusiasm because the new site will keep students closer to home rather than requiring long out-of-district transportation.
The district said the facility is planned to open in the fall and that additional operational details—including staffing models, transportation routing and the scope of integrated services—will continue to be refined and reported to the board.
Future board materials will include implementation timelines and any personnel items needed to staff the new programs.
