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District presents launch update for High Roads day-treatment program for students with high-intensity autism needs
Summary
School officials said the district has begun onboarding students into an in-district day-treatment program (High Roads) run with partner CESI; staff reported four students enrolled to date, a planned capacity of 16, and that placements require IEP-team approval and family consent.
The Beaufort County Board of Education Academics Committee on March 18 received an update on an in-district day-treatment program for students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and high-intensity needs.
Dr. Gary Cox, who presented the program, said the district partnered with CESI (Specialized Education Services, Inc.) to run an in-house model the district is calling High Roads. He described the model as evidence-based, designed for students with intensive needs, and—he said—"the first of its kind in South Carolina." The district opened enrollment the first week in March and has placed four students so far as it expands admission cautiously.
Cox said the district is using two centrally located sites for the program: Bluffton Elementary School ECC for elementary students and a secondary site identified as H.E. McCracken for older students. He said each classroom is small and that the district has capacity for eight students per classroom (two classrooms for a countywide capacity of 16), which matches the initial target enrollment.
Placement into High Roads requires an IEP meeting and family participation; Cox said district staff and school teams made the initial recommendations and that families already receiving outside services were prioritized in the first wave. "Students do not go without the blessing of the IEP team, and that includes the family there," he said.
Cox described program components—motor labs, discrete-trial training, natural-environment teaching and embedded academic instruction—designed to build functional skills, community independence and academic transition readiness. He said staff are trained for high-intensity needs and that the program emphasizes family engagement and real-time progress reporting so home-school strategies can be shared with students' home schools.
During Q&A, Cox said the district will develop a placement evaluation once the program reaches full implementation and that the Extended School Year (ESY) decision will be made through individual IEPs when regression of skills over summer is anticipated. He shared a family outcome: with the family's permission, Cox recounted that one secondary student who had previously been a flight risk now "walks into the school alone," a change the presenter described as a powerful early sign of progress.
Board members praised the program and asked about logistics, transportation and future publicity; Cox said the district is monitoring enrollment, working with families on transportation solutions, and will continue to report implementation status to the board.
