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Craven County Schools says decentralizing special‑education classrooms reduced travel and addressed overcapacity, but staffing needs rose
Summary
District staff testified that moving many exceptional‑children students back to their home schools eased family hardship and long bus rides, but increased the number of EC teaching positions in several attendance‑zone schools.
Craven County Schools told the board on Feb. 10 that decentralizing services for students with disabilities — returning many students from centralized “hub” classrooms to their home schools — improved family access and reduced excessive travel times, but required creation of several additional teaching positions.
The district presented data showing an enrollment increase among Exceptional Children (EC) students from about 1,900 to roughly 2,300 over the past year, a roughly 20 percent rise in caseloads tied to both local placements and students entering the district. The superintendent’s team said that some centralized EC classrooms were over capacity (examples cited included up to eight students in one class) and that shifting services to home schools was driven by a need to serve students with their neighborhood peers and reduce lengthy bus rides.
Why this matters: Services for students with disabilities are governed by Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) obligations and state allocation rules; staffing, caseload sizes and classroom space affect teacher workload, special‑education compliance and budgets.
What the district said - Rationale: The move to decentralize was described as student‑centered: placing services in students’ home schools reduces family inconvenience (siblings attending different buildings) and shortens specialized transportation times for students with higher needs. - Staffing impact: District staff said decentralization required creation of four net new EC teaching positions in the New Bern and Havelock areas (two in each), though staff emphasized teachers were often relocated with their students and some vacancies already existed. The presentation identified specific schools that gained second EC classrooms (e.g., JT Barber, Trent Park) and detailed where classrooms had been reallocated. - Caseloads and funding: Presenters noted that the state’s EC funding model is per pupil rather than per service minute, and staff urged state changes to allocate resources based on service intensity. The district said it has internally calculated service minutes and worked with principals to align staffing to student service time rather than a flat per‑pupil count.
Board questions and requests Board members pressed staff for a breakdown of EC students by eligibility category (for example, learning disabilities, other health‑impaired, autism) and asked for reconciled vacancy numbers; the board asked staff to reconcile HR vacancy listings with online recruitment postings and to return with precise vacancy counts. Members also requested the district produce service‑time reporting (minutes per student) and a clearer staffing reconciliation so the board can track which positions were added or relocated.
Outcome and next steps The presentation concluded as an informational item. Staff said they would return with a detailed breakdown by disability category and a reconciliation of EC vacancies versus posted openings to clarify the staffing picture and to support future budget planning.
