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Parents urge Nassau County School Board to reverse centralized placements for students with disabilities
Summary
Multiple parents told the board that centralizing self-contained classrooms forces children to travel long distances, disrupts therapies and family routines, and undermines inclusion; they asked the district to study enrollment, transportation and staffing to return programs to neighborhood schools when feasible.
Several parents used the board’s public-comment period on June 11 to press the Nassau County School Board to stop centralizing self-contained classrooms for students with disabilities and to plan for neighborhood-based placements.
"By investing and adding a self-contained classroom to our local elementary school, you aren't just creating a space. You're keeping our vulnerable children in the community," said Leta Sweat, a Callahan parent, who said her 5-year-old son would be rezoned away from his current school and that longer travel times threaten his therapy schedule and immediate family access.
Mandy Connor, another parent, said her daughter travels "approximately 38 miles and 47 minutes one way" to reach a centralized placement and that the commute has contributed to families leaving the district for private or virtual alternatives. "Centralized placement also impacts our staff and our classroom environment," Connor said, urging the board to "study the data, explore creative staffing solutions, [and] develop a long-term plan" for self-contained programs in neighborhood schools.
Callie Foske told the board five students from Callahan Elementary were sent to centralized placements this year and said extended bus time separates children from siblings, friends and after-school supports. "When students are assigned to schools outside of their attendance zone solely because that is where a program is located, they lose daily connections," Foske said.
Parent Laura Hamilton said centralization sends an unintended message that "some students belong somewhere else," and described the additional stress and dysregulation she has observed in students who spend double or triple the amount of time in transit.
Destiny Moore described a personal example: her son Cooper, a nonverbal 5-year-old ranked level 3 in supports, has built trust with staff at Callahan Elementary and will face logistical and care disruptions if moved to the closest self-contained option at Hilliard. "He will be separated from his brother," Moore said, noting lost after-school care and increased demands on working parents.
Board members acknowledged the concerns and said they would gather enrollment, transportation and placement data. Chair (identified in the transcript as the person presiding) thanked the parents and said the board would collect numbers and review applicable federal and state rules that constrain placement decisions. Superintendent Dr. Burns told the board he would provide the available data for middle and high school placements and that additional high-school data was still pending.
No formal policy change or vote on placement strategy occurred at the meeting. Parents asked the board to begin planning now so that growing ESE (exceptional student education) populations can be served closer to home through staff training, therapeutic supports and administrative adjustments. The board did not announce a timetable for a follow-up report.
Next steps: the district will compile and circulate placement and transportation data for the board’s review; parents requested the board study options to expand neighborhood-based self-contained classrooms when enrollment supports them.
