Special education director outlines staffing gains, placements and a trauma‑informed program

Lehi Poppy Finley, the district’s director of special services, gave the Lakeville Area Schools board an overview of special education programming and staffing on May 26 and answered detailed questions from board members about caseloads, placements and contractor use.

Finley said that as of May 20 the district served 112 early-intervention students (birth–3), 233 ECSE (ages 3–5), 948 elementary, 388 middle-school and 457 high-school students through special education programs. She reported 82 students served through Intermediate District 917 placements, 43 of whom are transition-age students. Finley noted the count fluctuates and included the date on the slide: "I put the date in there because this fluctuates, pretty regularly." She also reported a wait list of 14 students awaiting 9‑17 placement and 13 new intakes during the school year.

On staffing, Finley said the district has hired contracted providers to fill openings and has increased special‑education FTE over three years by roughly 3 speech‑language pathologists, 3 school psychologists, 5 special‑education teachers, 1 occupational therapist and 1 nurse. She said current contracted providers number 27 (13 licensed, 14 non‑licensed) and that the district has hired 48 contracted providers during the year and ended contracts for 19 because of quality concerns. "The current contractors are for open positions that we're not able to fill," she told the board.

Board members raised operational questions including whether center-based programs (A Plus, ACES, MAP, DCD) should be sited in every building or concentrated to achieve smaller class sizes and more efficient staffing. Finley and other staff said district decisions are driven by space, program needs and the desire to keep students with their home-school peers when feasible.

Finley described a trauma‑informed de‑escalation practice (referred to in the transcript variously as Ukeru/Ookuro/Ucareau) that the district began rolling out with OSHA grant support; staff said the program reduced restrictive procedures in pilot classrooms and allowed purchase of required safety mats. Board members requested hard numbers on incident and restraint trends; Finley said she would provide those figures. The district also confirmed plans for a Special Education Institute and summer writing sessions beginning Aug. 19 to align curriculum, pacing and supplementary materials.

Directors asked for additional metrics and comparisons to neighboring districts (one director referenced District 196’s staffing policy) and requested caseload breakdowns by setting and by building. The administration agreed to provide ratios, dismissals data and placement trends in a follow-up report.