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RSU 10 board hears special-education report showing 468 students receiving services; parents press for alternatives to out-of-district placements
Summary
Assistant special-education staff told the RSU 10 school board the district serves hundreds of students with IEPs, outlined program types and capacity limits for regional placements, and proposed a new coordinator position; a parent urged remote instruction for a child with an IEP.
Ross Schicklin, assistant director of special education, told the Regional School Unit 10 school board that 468 students in the district are currently receiving services under individualized education programs, a number he said equals the combined total student populations of two elementary schools.
The presentation, given at the Feb. 24 board meeting, broke the district’s special-education enrollment down by building and program and noted 509 students are identified in special education across RSU 10. Schicklin said 25 students are placed out of district; the Western Foothills Regional Program (WFRP) — a regional program run by a partner provider — currently has 15 RSU 10 slots and all are filled. "So there are 468 students receiving services in our buildings for RSU 10," Schicklin said.
The report described program types at each school: multiple resource-room teachers, functional life-skills programs and emotional life-skills programs at the elementary level, and expanded life-skills offerings at the middle and high schools (the district’s high-school life-skills program is called Gateway). Schicklin and Bethany Meehan Poulan, the district’s other assistant special-education director, said life-skills programs have grown significantly in recent years.
The presenters proposed creating a special-education coordinator position to replace the former building-based coordinators and to serve as a link between buildings and central office. Schicklin said Mountain Valley Community School will have approximately 253 students with IEPs next year and that a coordinator would help manage that caseload.
Board members and staff discussed whether RSU 10’s proportion of students in special education exceeds state and national averages and noted the district’s rate is above typical percentages. "When you get so many kids tipped into that bucket, it becomes harder and harder to provide all the amazing things," Bethany Meehan Poulan said, urging stronger universal (Tier 1) interventions to reduce unnecessary identification.
Board members asked for follow-up briefings. The board agreed to request presentations from the district's behavior/intervention committee and on specific interventions such as PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports), and to examine how Title I and other intervention supports are deployed before students are referred to special education.
During the public-comment period, Eric Giroux, identified as a parent, said his child’s learning has fallen since returning to an in-person arrangement that splits instruction across rooms at a satellite site. "He’s just getting very confused because he’s here in math over here when he’s trying to read a book over here, and he’s here in science over here at the same time. It’s just not working," Giroux said, and said he will continue to press the board for a remote option or other adjustments for his child.
Superintendent Deb (last name not specified in meeting record) and special-education staff said they will develop additional informational sessions and bring detailed intervention and placement data back to the board for future budget and program decisions.
The board did not take formal action on program changes at the meeting; it asked staff to assemble more information and to present options for strengthening in-district interventions and for managing out-of-district placements.
