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Board approves special education staffing plan as special-education enrollment rises to 1,533 students
Summary
The Allegany County Board of Education unanimously approved a special education staffing plan after staff reported a year-over-year increase in students receiving special education services and proposed several additional positions funded locally and via medical assistance.
The Allegany County Board of Education on June 10 approved the district's special education staffing plan after staff reported growth in the special-education population and outlined requested positions to meet that demand.
Debbie Matheny, who presented the plan, told the board Allegany County Public Schools currently has 1,533 students receiving special education services, about 19% of students, an increase of 156 students from the prior year. Matheny said about 20% of that increase were students who moved into the county with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).
Matheny reviewed the staffing requests the district said are needed to serve those students. The plan requests 105 special education teachers, 102 full-time instructional assistants, 63.5 contractual instructional assistants, 0.4 of an audiologist (two days per week), 21.2 speech-language pathologists, one teacher certified for visual impairment and deaf education, one special education mental health counselor, nine school psychologists (aiming toward a 1:700 ratio), one infant and toddler coordinator, 14.6 special education facilitators to chair IEP meetings, five behavior specialists, a nonpublic coordinator, a data manager and four instructional specialists.
Matheny told the board the plan adds five teaching positions and 19 contractual instructional-assistant positions funded through the local budget, and one school psychologist position funded through medical-assistance reimbursements. She said the staffing plan had been approved the previous day by the Special Education Citizens Advisory Committee and was now before the board for final approval.
"So, I am asking the board this evening for approval of the staffing plan and I'll be happy to answer any questions that you have," Matheny said.
A motion to approve the special education staffing plan was made by Missus Lepley and seconded (second not specified in the transcript). The board voted unanimously to approve the plan.
Board members did not amend the staffing counts during the meeting; Matheny answered board questions and clarified the recommended caseload ratios the district seeks to maintain in different settings.
