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District presents intensive support classrooms serving about 65 students
Summary
At the Dec. 2 board meeting, Mr. Giordano described the district's intensive support classrooms (8 classrooms, roughly 65 students), staffing and program features including augmentative communication devices, frequent community-based instruction and job-readiness partnerships; no board action was required.
Mr. Giordano, a district presenter, gave the board an overview of Lower Moreland's intensive support classrooms and the services provided to students with the most complex needs.
"We have 8 such classrooms across the district," Giordano told the board, saying those classes currently serve about 65 students: three at Pine Road, two at Murray Avenue, one in the middle school and two at the high school. He described the model as grouping students who receive autistic support, life-skills support, emotional support and multiple-disability support into intensive-support classrooms rather than maintaining separate, narrowly focused rooms for each category.
Giordano detailed program features and staffing requirements. Instruction in the intensive-support classrooms often runs 1-to-1 or 1-to-2, uses individualized schedules and specialized curricula (he cited programs such as Edmark reading and connecting-math-concepts), and relies on paraprofessionals: "There's a lot of them," he said, noting the district lists roughly 39 paraprofessionals in these roles and distinguishing about 16 instructional assistants and 23 personal-care assistants.
He said augmentative communication devices are in use across the program: "You'll definitely see iPads being used for communication. We have about 15 being used across the district at the moment," Giordano said. He also described monthly community-based instruction trips (grocery shopping and related activities used to teach functional skills) and partnerships for older students on job-readiness programs through the MCIU and related job-coaching supports.
During Q&A, board members asked when community-based instruction begins and how the program is reviewed. Giordano said trips may begin as early as kindergarten depending on student readiness and that caseloads and placements are reviewed annually around the start and end of the school year. He characterized these programs as "probably our most parentally involved programs," adding that family engagement is essential to setting and adjusting IEP goals.
The presentation was informational; the board did not take action on the program at the meeting. Giordano said the district monitors caseload limits and will hire additional staff or reassign students when necessary to maintain appropriate ratios and services.
