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West Lafayette outlines special-education staffing, Purdue and ISB partnerships
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Summary
At the April 13 board meeting, special education staff reported the district serves roughly 249 students with IEPs, described new hires and a Student and Family Services role, and said partnerships with Purdue and the Indiana School for the Blind will continue after GLASS dissolves.
Mrs. Qualio provided a detailed update on the district's special education services and staffing.
"Currently, we have 249 students in our corporation who have an IEP," she said, and added the district also serves about 189 students under 504 plans and roughly 230 students through MTSS supports. Qualio described the staffing mix across buildings (resource'room teachers, paraprofessionals, RBTs) and named current speech'language pathologists and a new school psychologist, noting efforts to make some positions full'time through contracts with neighboring districts where needed.
She told trustees that partnerships with Purdue'based speech'language clinicians and with the Indiana School for the Blind will continue as GLASS dissolves; Lynnwood will remain the site for the district's special education preschool and the district provides transportation for preschool students. Qualio described the new Student and Family Services Specialist role (Courtney Murtaugh) to coordinate case conferences and family outreach.
Board members asked about caseloads, preschool enrollment and program placement. A district administrator explained typical caseloads are 20'25 for many teachers, lower (8'12) in essential skills classrooms and 10'12 for the new structured'learning program; the board also heard that many elementary special education cases are speech and language needs.
Why it matters: The update maps the district's operational capacity for special education during a transitional year for regional services (GLASS dissolution). The district is hiring and contracting to keep services in'house where feasible and aiming for consistency of personnel across buildings.
Next steps: Qualio said hires will continue and that administrators are finalizing division of GLASS assets and contract language with partners; she will continue monthly collaborative meetings with special education teachers and administrators and report back on implementation and Article 7 compliance.
