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Special education leaders outline staffing, programs and transition services
Summary
Special education administrators reviewed staff counts, services, least restrictive environment indicators, preschool programming and the district's transition coordinator role supporting postsecondary planning and vocational placements.
Special education administrators provided the board with an overview of services, staff and programmatic priorities across the district.
Presenters reported current staffing that includes four special-education coordinators, one transition coordinator, 105 special-education teachers, 19 school psychologists, 18 speech therapists and four board-certified behavior analysts (BCBAs). The BCBAs, the presenters said, support students in crisis, perform functional behavioral assessments (FBAs), develop behavior intervention plans (BIPs), and provide staff training and crisis-team support. The transition coordinator's duties include supporting students age 14 and older with postsecondary planning, coordinating with AccessVR, OPWDD and BOCES, arranging off-campus vocational placements, and setting up summer work programs.
Administrators reviewed district special-education metrics (based on 2023-24 state reporting): about 59.7% of students with disabilities spent 80% or more of the school day in regular education; 17.2% were served inside regular education settings. The district reported approximately 440 students with Section 504 accommodations and roughly 787 students with IEPs (2024-25 figures were described but not yet finalized). Presenters noted some state LRE targets were narrowly missed, and they flagged capacity, staffing, professional-development needs and assistive-technology demand as continuing challenges.
Trustees asked for further detail on parent vs. building requests for 504/IEP reviews and for school-by-school descriptions of bullying-prevention and special-education supports; administrators said they would compile building-level plans and data and enhance targeted professional development for teachers and teacher aides.
