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Special-education and intervention teams report growing caseloads, new supports
Summary
Special-education staff told the board they are serving 44 students (pre-K through 5), have seen a spike in referrals and highlighted new in-person speech services, a behavior analyst hire and therapy-dog reading supports as improving outcomes.
Special-education staff updated the Auburndale School Board on April 1 about rising caseloads, in-person services and classroom-level supports intended to improve student outcomes.
Laura Leen opened the presentation: "So altogether we're serving 44 students right now prek through fifth grade," and described a busy season of IEP meetings and nine initial evaluations in the past month. Colleagues Jenna Walsh and Clara Allen said the district—ontinues to see increased referrals and emphasized the role of paras in daily service delivery.
Jeff David, the newly in-person speech-language pathologist, and Shelby, a board-certified behavior analyst hired midyear, described how in-person services and behavior coaching have supported classroom staff. "She's created FBAs and has helped us collect data," one presenter said of Shelby's contributions, adding that paras reported feeling more supported.
Teachers and specialists described classroom strategies for instruction and behavior (tier 1 and 2 strategies), use of therapy dogs for reading promotion and life-skills lessons (baking, cooking) to teach functional academics. Presenters said improved documentation — a record of interventions tried — will make future meetings and decisions more actionable.
The personnel committee noted the district posted a part-time speech-language pathologist position but had received no applicants as of the meeting; the committee flagged that as a continuing need. Board members indicated the district will continue recruitment and look for staffing options to maintain in-person services.
The board thanked special-education staff and paras for their work during a high-demand period and recognized the benefit of increased in-person supports.
