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Chief of student services outlines new therapeutic day program, ESY rules and Right Choices alternative education
Summary
Dr. Cox and student‑services leaders presented an overview of the department's community outreach (BCSDU), special‑education caseloads (about 2,796 students), a new therapeutic day treatment program with up to eight seats per elementary and secondary program, and distinctions between summer school and ESY. Board members pressed staff on ESY capacity and adult‑education coordination.
Beaufort County’s student‑services department spent a substantial portion of the June 9 meeting walking the board through programs that operate both inside and outside school walls, including special education, alternative education (Right Choices), nursing, counseling and adult education.
Dr. Cox, chief of student services, introduced a BCSDU public‑education partnership and a staff team that includes directors for exceptional learners, student support, school counseling, social work, nursing, alternative education, and adult education. The exceptional‑learners director reported 2,796 students served across the district’s identified disability categories.
On a new therapeutic day treatment program, staff said the district currently ran separate elementary and secondary therapeutic placements with an operating capacity of up to eight students per program. At the end of the school year the district reported five secondary and four elementary students served; during extended‑school‑year (ESY) sessions the district was serving three students because ESY requires IEP teams to determine whether a student will suffer significant regression without summer services.
Staff emphasized the operational difference between summer school (broad, sometimes open enrollment) and ESY (individualized, IEP‑driven eligibility). Board members voiced surprise that ESY enrollments could be smaller than school‑year placements; staff explained ESY is eligibility‑based and not every student with an IEP qualifies for ESY services.
Joey Ward described Right Choices (the district’s alternative‑education pathway): as presented, approximately 38 high‑school and 30 middle‑school students had recently been enrolled at the time of the presentation, with procedures that include referral, hearing‑officer decision, orientation/intake, placement and managed transition back to the home school.
The presentation also covered adult education. Staff said King Street remains the primary adult‑education site, with satellite locations across the county. District leaders said they are reviewing the adult‑ed model to broaden access and to ensure compliance with federal grant rules that can restrict who uses specialized equipment purchased with grant funds.
What the board requested: members asked staff to provide more detailed ESY participation data and to consider whether adult‑education CTE options could be expanded with high‑school partnerships. Dr. Cox agreed to follow up with the requested data.
