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District officials outline growing special-education caseloads, staffing pressures
Summary
Assistant Superintendent Tamar Walker and special-education directors told the Board of Education the district has seen a rise in referrals and classified students, noted program expansions (ICT K–12) and said out-of-district placements have become harder to find. Administrators flagged space and staffing as key constraints.
Assistant Superintendent Tamar Walker told the Mamaroneck Board of Education that the district has seen rising special-education demand and is planning staffing and program changes to respond.
"At the start of this school year alone, we've had 63 referrals to special education," Walker said, and she later reported the district is "currently at 892 students that are classified within our public schools." Walker and directors John Boniello and Corey Wagner said those increases have driven the district to expand programs and reallocate staff.
The presenters said the district has recorded a 40 percent increase in students classified with autism and a 22 percent increase in students classified with Other Health Impairments (OHI) since 2020, and described how those shifts shape services. John Boniello, describing district program changes, said Integrated Co-Teaching has been extended to K–12 and that Hammocks Middle School now offers ICT across content areas. "We have cohorts moving together," Boniello said, and the district is planning for additional sections where enrollment requires them.
Administrators warned of mounting space and staffing pressures. The presentation detailed clinical staffing by building, noting variations in psychologist and social-work allocations and identifying areas where mandated counseling hours and related services (speech, occupational therapy) require significant time and personnel. Presenters said the district now employs additional occupational therapists to reduce reliance on contractors and that it has 14 speech therapists supporting more than 340 students.
On placements, Walker said the district began the year with 34 students recommended for out-of-district programs and that number had risen to 38, with 35 students placed and three pending. She described recent difficulty finding appropriate programs for some high-need profiles and said the district sometimes must create in-district programs when outside placements are unavailable.
Board members pressed on curriculum and intervention choices. Questions about literacy programs led administrators to say they are pursuing Orton-Gillingham training while maintaining access to Wilson methods where appropriate. Walker said she had reached out to Wilson for additional teacher certification and that Orton-Gillingham expands the district's tiered intervention options.
During public comment, parent Ian Rhodes asked the board to provide comparable accommodations for students attending WIN (an after-school program) after the district moved the session to afternoons; he said larger afternoon classes have made access harder for some students. The district said it will continue to evaluate WIN's schedule and supports for students who need accommodations.
Superintendent Sampson and administrators said this work ties into the budget process: district staff will present budget-related infrastructure and staffing requests in coming weeks as part of the formal budget timeline.
The board heard the presentation and engaged in detailed questioning; no new formal policy was adopted at the meeting, but presenters said program and staffing recommendations will inform upcoming budget discussions.
