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Bossier Parish Schools approves 'GREAT' therapeutic day‑school pilot for 2025–26
Summary
The Bossier Parish School Board on May 1 approved a pilot therapeutic day‑school program known as GREAT (Growth Reflected in Education and Therapy) to begin in the 2025–26 school year.
The Bossier Parish School Board on May 1 approved a pilot therapeutic day‑school program known as GREAT — Growth Reflected in Education and Therapy — to begin in the 2025–26 school year.
Assistant Superintendent Andrea Spinney and Director of Special Education Vicki Junger told the board the program is intended to provide the district’s curriculum in a therapeutic setting for students whose educational and behavioral needs exceed current placement options.
Spinney said the pilot would place the program on the district continuum of special education as what she described as “a therapeutic day school” and that the plan would be vetted by the district’s legal counsel before implementation. Junger, who answered board questions about staffing, said, “we anticipate 2 certified SPED teachers with a special certification in registered behavior technician training, 2 paraprofessionals with that same training, as well as 1 behavior‑focused clinician,” adding that the clinician “could be a social skills interventionist, a social worker, or a mental health liaison.”
Board member Logan McConathy asked whether existing positions would be repurposed or new positions hired. Junger said the two teacher positions would be new but that the clinician and two paraprofessional roles would be filled from positions the district already maintains. Spinney said the board had received a one‑page summary of the pilot prior to the meeting and that leaders in the special education department were “very excited to implement this in this next school year.”
Board member D. Bullard made the motion to approve the request; Miss Tammy Smith seconded. The board voted to approve the pilot.
District staff said further operational details — including exact student eligibility criteria, school assignment, and campus location for the pilot — will be developed with the special education department and brought back to the board as the program is finalized.
Questions raised during discussion focused on staffing and the program’s therapeutic supports rather than on funding sources; no dedicated funding source was specified at the meeting.
