Parents, advocates urge Keene board to prioritize special-education staffing and adopt workload model

Multiple parents, educators and advocates used the public hearing on Jan. 21 to press the Keene Board of Education to reconsider recurring cuts to special-education positions and to adopt a workload model that accounts for time spent on indirect duties such as IEPs, evaluations and teacher consultation.

Marie Fouth, a parent and school-community member, said the district has repeatedly reduced special-education staff in recent budget cycles and asked the board to engage in “more dialogue” about how caseload numbers are set. Fouth noted the district had previously discussed a caseload range of 15 to 22 students per special-education teacher and urged that the range be treated as flexible, not as a strict cap.

Jennifer Kiernan, who identified herself as a Keene resident, thanked the board for recent additions such as restoring a teacher post at a Bridges program but argued eliminating special-education positions when caseload numbers dip is “short sighted.” She told the board special-education teachers need time for evaluations, co-teaching and training paraprofessionals — work that does not fit neatly into a simple caseload number.

“This means not eliminating special education positions because of…