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Teachers, parents tell Manchester school board special education staffing crisis threatens student services
Summary
Multiple teachers and residents said recent involuntary transfers, resignations and insufficient communication have created a "special education and leadership crisis"; administrators described caseload shifts, offered staffing counts, and reported increased hiring of paraprofessionals and conversions from contract providers.
Residents and teachers told the Manchester School Committee on April 14 that special education staffing and district communication failures have put students and classroom teams at risk.
"We are in a special education and leadership crisis in Manchester," Patricia Hurley, a longtime teacher, told the board during public comment. Hurley and other classroom teachers said an involuntary transfer of a special education teacher led to that teacher resigning because she "did not feel she had sufficient information" to provide an appropriate education. "If somebody had just talked to me, I know they could have convinced me to stay," Hurley said.
Deborah Todd, a 28-year teacher, asked the district to be transparent about tools and supports staff can use; she said teachers discovered only by accident that the district's digital platform could translate documents into multiple languages. Todd said frequent turnover in district special-education leadership over the past decade has created systemic problems and urged the board to support the new assistant superintendent overseeing student services.
At administration'led responses, Assistant Superintendent Ayesha Weaver and Superintendent Camille said the district is monitoring case sizes and moving staff to meet growing needs. Camille said one elementary school's average caseload rose from about 14.29 to 16.67 after staff were reallocated to open another self-contained classroom; she said recommended caseload guidance is approximately 20. Camille said the reallocation was a collaborative approach with the Manchester Educators Association and HR and that the district considered recruitment, long-term substitutes and other options before the transfer.
Weaver presented special-education data and a paraprofessional staffing update. The district reported a 10/1/2024 enrollment of 11,865 students and 2,786 students identified for special education. Weaver said the district currently has roughly 301 paraprofessionals on its books, including shared paras, 1-to-1 paras and paras assigned to self-contained classrooms; the district has hired about 120 paraprofessionals this school year and is converting some roles previously supplied by contractors (including registered behavior technicians) to in-house positions to reduce costs and improve retention.
Weaver said the district operates preschool through high-school self-contained classrooms across multiple buildings and that the cap for IDEA-regulated self-contained classrooms is 12 students. She told the board the district is planning to open three additional special-education programs next year in response to rising need but said doing so requires staff, space, training and state approvals.
Board members pressed for clearer communication channels between district office and building teams and asked about the process for voluntary versus involuntary transfers and whether the district is exhausting district-wide voluntary transfer options before involuntary moves. Camille and HR said they had discussed the matter with union representatives and building leaders; they reiterated that steps would be taken through attrition and recruitment to try to minimize disruption.
Ending: Board members asked administration to continue reporting detailed counts and to make materials public; the board also advanced a superintendent presentation on special education to the front of the agenda and requested the memos used in the presentation be posted with the meeting packet.
