York City SD special-education leaders highlight rising autism counts, expanded early‑childhood transitions and staffing shortfalls
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Summary
Special-education staff presented district data showing increases in primary autism classifications, growth in gifted identifications, larger preschool-to-K transition cohorts and a set of staffing requests tied to rising demand.
Miss Manning, a special-education presenter for the York City School District, told the committee on May 12 that the district's special-education population is growing and that the department is redesigning some classroom models to cope with more incoming students.
She said primary autism classifications rose from 217 to 292 this year and that the district expects 57 preschool students with needs for autistic‑support next year, compared with 45 this year. Miss Manning said the district is “redefining some of our classroom structures” because hiring enough new teachers and paras to create 10 additional autistic‑support self‑contained classes is not realistic in the near term.
The presentation included academic and program metrics the department has tracked. Gifted IEP counts grew from 29 in the leadership team’s first year to 54 last year and 74 currently, with more referrals pending. The department also reported 22 students exited from special education this year, up from 17 last year and 10 the year before — a figure the presenter cited as evidence the district is moving some students back into general education.
Luis Perez, a senior who receives services through a partner program, addressed the committee and described his dual enrollment at York College and internships supporting web accessibility. Perez said he has been accepted to York College with a renewable scholarship and thanked district staff and partners for supports that enabled his college coursework.
Miss Manning reviewed assessment data for alternate assessments (PASA). She said the percentage of students scoring at the "target" level rose compared with prior years (for example, ELA target rose from 18% to 22% year over year in the aggregate PASA samples she presented). She told members the department is wrestling with placement decisions for the alternate assessment versus the regular PSSA and emphasized efforts to move students toward grade‑level standards where appropriate.
Staffing and talent items were a major focus. Miss Manning said the department hired seven new teachers this year (mostly for autistic‑support classrooms), employed approximately 72 paraprofessionals (with ongoing turnover), contracted four virtual speech therapists, and recently contracted a BCBA (board‑certified behavior analyst). She listed current vacancies: five high‑school special‑education openings, two K–8 learning‑support positions and one emotional‑support K–8 opening. She said the department requested 10 additional autistic‑support classes in an ideal scenario but indicated the budget proposal under discussion would initially add four special‑education teachers and three paraprofessionals.
Committee members thanked the special‑education team for increased exits from special education, growth in gifted identifications, and for building family/para/teacher leadership teams the department calls RISE and IMPACT. Miss Manning said the department is coordinating with the Intermediate Unit (IU) and Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) monitors on program changes and preschool transitions.
The presentation closed with recognition of staff retirements and photos/videos of classroom activities; Miss Manning said she will send a video link to the board after the meeting.
The committee did not take a formal vote on any special‑education item during the session.
