Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Special Education topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
District proposes dedicated public day school for students with intensive autism needs
Summary
Superintendent and the district’s chief of exceptional learners outlined a plan to open a public day school at the Chestnut Campus to serve up to 200 K–12 students with intensive autism needs, beginning with 19 classrooms; committee members pressed on timelines, staffing and family outreach.
Superintendent Dr. Denal and Chief of Exceptional Learners Dr. Marissa McCarthy presented a proposal to the Springfield City School Committee to create a public day school focused on students with intensive autism needs, citing rapid growth in district demand.
The proposal would consolidate highly specialized LYNX autism programming into a single site at the Chestnut Campus, start with 19 classrooms this year and aim to serve up to 200 kindergarten‑through‑12th‑grade students over time. Dr. McCarthy said the district has seen a 353 percent increase in students requiring LYNX programming since 2013, rising to 698 students in the most recent reporting period, and that district‑wide exceptional‑learner enrollment is 6,529.
District officials said the public day school would serve students whose individualized education programs (IEPs) indicate a need for a highly structured, restrictive setting. Eligibility would be determined by comprehensive multidisciplinary evaluations; placement would be voluntary and require family consent. The school’s model would include small classroom ratios (roughly six students per class), one teacher and two paraprofessionals per room, embedded related services (speech, OT, PT), and evidence‑based instructional approaches such as applied behavior analysis and structured teaching.
Committee members asked detailed questions about rollout and logistics. Dr. McCarthy said the immediate goal is to open classrooms for the start of the next school year, with hiring and classroom setup planned for summer; staffing was identified as the largest obstacle. The district reported active recruitment and outreach — including to local colleges and families — and plans to post positions immediately. Transportation for these students is expected to be specialized (door‑to‑door) and described as an IEP team decision.
Several members pressed for clarity on family engagement, multilingual supports and how the public day school would coexist with in‑school LYNX programs. Dr. McCarthy said school‑based LYNX programs will continue; the public day school is intended to supplement the continuum of services for students with the highest levels of need and to reduce out‑of‑district placements that now leave students on months‑long wait lists.
Dr. McCarthy said the district is working with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) on approval and expects to start with the most pressing placements (pre‑K moving into K) while building toward the full K–12 capacity. The committee did not take an action to approve the program immediately; members requested more data mapping current student placements to the proposed 19‑classroom rollout and asked for community outreach materials and town halls for families prior to firm adoption.
The superintendent and chief of exceptional learners agreed to provide a follow‑up packet with: a clear map of students and current classroom locations; projected timelines for hiring and classroom readiness; explicit multilingual outreach plans; and more details on transportation and staffing models.
If approved by DESE and the committee, district officials said the public day school would allow Springfield to keep more students in‑district and provide specialized services in a concentrated site.
