Osceola school district outlines plan to increase inclusion; parents and teachers raise safety and staffing concerns

The Osceola County School Board on Thursday heard a detailed presentation from the district’s Exceptional Student Education department about proposed changes for the 2025–26 school year intended to increase inclusive opportunities and reorganize some separate-class services into community-based "hubs."

The proposal, presented by ESE staff led by Hillary DeLuca, would add a blended prekindergarten program at every elementary and K–8 campus, emphasize general-education homeroom placements with pull-out services (40–79 percent of the day) for some students, and create consolidated separate-class hubs and updated ‘‘access’’ classroom categories (independent, supported, participatory). DeLuca said the work began with a board advisory committee in March 2023 and was shaped by an external audit and Department of Education data the district reviewed.

District officials said the goal is to reduce the percentage of students in self-contained settings and expand inclusion. "This work started in March of 2023," DeLuca said, and staff have been meeting with school teams and principals to identify barriers and training needs. The presentation described steps to monitor placement changes, train staff during PLC time, allocate speech-language support in some classrooms, and coordinate transitions when students change campuses.

Parents, teachers and union representatives attending the meeting voiced widespread concern about safety, staffing, certification, special-education paperwork and communication. Julie (president, Osceola County Education Association) told the board, "I will tell you that I've spent a very sleepless night" responding to constituent concerns. Several parents described individual safety or academic worries: Rafaela Bernard said her fifth-grade son asked, "Why am I a fifth grader going in the classroom with him?" when placed with younger students, and Michelle McKean said, "My child does not belong in a self contained class or in a regular educational classroom," describing how her family advocates for what they say their child needs.

Speakers at the meeting pressed the district for clear timelines, guarantees about class-size ratios, detail on certification and liability protections for teachers, and assurances that initial IEP determinations would not be overridden without full team review. Union and classroom teachers asked how the district would staff rooms with multiple students who require 1:1 support or intensive behavioral intervention and warned that inadequate staffing or training could increase risk to students and staff.

ESE staff described specific service-model changes: blended pre-K at each elementary/K–8 campus; developmental K–2 separate-class programs for students progressing toward access-point instruction; behavior-support classrooms instructed to general-education standards with active behavior intervention and crisis plans; three tiers of access-point classrooms (independent, supported, participatory) with different curriculum modifications and supports; and transition programs on and off campus (including Project SEARCH) to build employment and independent living skills.

The presentation included one quantitative snapshot the district shared with principals: at the time of the review the district ranked roughly 70th out of 80 comparable districts in the percentage of students placed in separate-class settings, a figure district staff cited as motivation for expanding inclusion. The presentation said staff have provided monthly updates to building administration and that teams will visit each school to review staffing, equipment and master schedule changes.

No formal policy change or vote occurred at Thursday's meeting. Board members and staff said they would continue committee work and community meetings; staff described next steps as communication with families, monitoring equipment and scheduling adjustments, and supporting transitions for any students who change campuses. Several parents asked that any implementation be delayed until parents and classroom teachers have had more opportunity to review and respond to detailed placement and staffing plans.

The meeting record shows the ESE presentation was informational; the board did not approve a districtwide change at this session. District staff and board members posted contact information and encouraged continued dialogue; several speakers said they will return to future board meetings to press for more specific assurances about safety, staffing and IEP protections.