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Founding president of Shelton SEPTA urges board to stop framing special education as a budget problem
Summary
Dr. Michelle Eckler, founding president of the new Shelton Special Education PTA (SEPTA), asked the board to treat special-education services as an investment in inclusion and student success rather than a line-item cost, invited aldermen to join the group and offered the organization as a resource during budgeting conversations.
Dr. Michelle Eckler (speaker 5) told the Shelton Board of Aldermen she founded the Shelton Special Education Parent Teacher Association to change how the community views special education.
Eckler described herself as a former Shelton student, a Shelton resident and a longtime educator, and said the organization aims to "educate the public so that inclusion isn't seen as a charity, but as a standard of excellence in our city." She urged the board to avoid framing special-education services as a budgetary burden on families and the school district, and to instead consider how such services support the long-term success of students and the community.
Eckler invited aldermen to join Shelton SEPTA, said the group will hold its first meeting in May via Zoom and promised to follow up with membership information by email. The remarks were made during the public-comment portion of the meeting; no formal board action was taken on the item.
