NPS:Special Education

Links to Student Services Reports

There are nine Students services reports delivered to the school committee every year.

"Each report tracks special education aide assignments, compares special education and preschool aide budgets by FTE, provides a cost breakdown for special education aides including pre-k aides, provides preschool enrollment analysis by month, details the contracted services and out-of-district placements accounts, and reports special education transportation spending."

Links to the reports below. The summary of each section is included here. See the full report for the tables of more detailed information

June, 2010
The following changes are noted

• There are newly identified student needs (1.7) and replacement of staff (1.0). However as a result of staff vacancies (3.0) and changes in student needs (.1), there is a .4 decrease in the number of special education aides.

• Contracted services has increased by $20,000 to bring in• outside service providers because of staff leaves of absence.

• The enrollment in the integrated preschool is up by three students (two students with special needs and one student without special needs).

• The number of students placed out-of-district is increased by four from last month – five students were placed out-of-district (one at the middle school level, three at the high school level, and one as a result of a cost share agreement). One student aged out of their placement at the high school level but there was a small decrease in cost due to lowered estimates for year end placements.

• The number of students receiving special education transportation is up by 14 students from last month. However there was no increase in cost because of existing vehicles/routes as well as changes in out-of-district placements. The net result is that the variance to the budget improved.

Central High School
As of June 1, 2010, 15 students are enrolled at Central High School. Four additional students have been referred to the program.

The Newton Early Childhood Preschool Programs (NECP)
The Newton Early Childhood Preschool Programs (NECP) is currently serving 280 students. As of June 2, 2010, the program includes 81 students with special needs and 73 students without special needs in integrated preschool classrooms. Two students referred by Early Intervention with special needs, were placed in integrated classrooms. One student enrolled in an integrated classroom as a student without special needs. Students receiving speech and language, occupational therapy, physical therapy or social pragmatics includes 126 students. The preschool is evaluating 70 students. The increase in evaluations is due to the special education requirement to evaluate and hold a Team Meeting before a child turns three years of age. We are evaluating children who turn three between now and September 20, 2010 in order to be in compliance with this regulation. NECP provides two students, attending community preschools, with 504 Accommodation Plans.

Out-of-District Accounts
Currently there are 166 students in out-of-district placements. During the month of May, five students were placed out-of-district (one student moved into the district resulting in an out-of-district placement at the middle school level, three students were placed out at the high school level and one student was added to the cost share list). In addition, there was one student who aged out of their placement at the high school level. There were no changes at the elementary level.

Special Education Transportation
As of June 7, 2010, a total of 506 students receive special education transportation (147 students to private placements/359 within the Newton Public Schools).

May, 2010
The following changes are noted:

• This month as a result of newly identified student needs and replacement of staff, there is an increase in the number of special education aide positions (2.7). The variance to the budget is slightly increased.
• Contracted services has increased by $100,000 to meet unanticipated student needs and to bring in outside service providers because of staff leaves of absence or vacancies.
• The total enrollment in the preschool program is 277 (79 students with special needs; 72 students without special needs and 126 who receive related services).
• The number of students placed out of district is 162. The variance to the budget is increased.
• 492 students with special needs receive transportation (140 students are in out of district placements/352 students within NPS). The variance to the budget is decreased as a result of changes in student placements out of district.

Central High School
As of May 4, 2010 14 students are enrolled at Central High School. Two additional students have been referred.

The Newton Early Childhood Preschool Programs (NECP)
The Newton Early Childhood Preschool Programs (NECP) is currently serving 277 students. As of May 5, 2010 the program includes 79 students with special needs and 72 students without special needs in integrated preschool classrooms. Three students with special needs were placed in integrated classrooms (two children referred by Early Intervention and one child referred by his parents) following initial eligibility meetings. One student has joined an integrated classroom as a student without special needs. The number of students receiving related services (speech and language, occupational, and/or physical therapies or social pragmatics) is 126. Seventy-four students are currently being evaluated. The increase in evaluations is due to the special education requirement to evaluate and hold a Team Meeting before a child turns three years of age. Therefore, evaluators are evaluating children who turn three between now and September 20, 2010 in order to be in compliance with this regulation. NECP provides two students, attending community preschools, with 504 Accommodation Plans.

Out-of-District Accounts
Currently there are 162 students in out-of-district placements. During the month of April, at the high school level, four students were placed, two students aged out of their placements, one student returned to Newton Public Schools and one student changed from a day placement to a cost share placement. At the middle school level, there was one change in placement from day to residential. There were no changes at the elementary level.

Special Education Transportation
As of April 30, 2010, a total of 492 students receive special education transportation (140 students to private placements/352 within the Newton Public Schools).

April, 2010
The following changes are noted:

• This month this is a slight increase in student needs, however as a result of students moving out of district and/or into an out of district placement, and staff vacancies and/or reassignments, there is a decrease in the number of special education aide positions. The variance to the budget is decreased.
• The total enrollment in the preschool program is 263 students (76 students with special needs; 71 students without special needs and 116 students who receive related services).
• The number of students placed out of district is 160. The variance to the budget is decreased.
• 475 students with special needs receive transportation (130 are in out of district placements/345 within NPS). The variance to the budget is decreased as a result of changes in out of district and within district placements.

Central High School
As of March 31, 2010 12 students are enrolled at Central High School. Three additional students have been referred.

The Newton Early Childhood Preschool Programs (NECP)
The Newton Early Childhood Preschool Programs (NECP) is currently serving 263 students. As of April 5, 2010 the program includes 76 students with special needs and 71 students without special needs in integrated preschool classrooms. Three students with special needs were placed in integrated classrooms (one child referred by Early Intervention, one child referred by his parents and community preschool, and one child moved to Newton) following eligibility meetings. One student from an integrated classroom moved out of Newton. The number of students receiving related services (speech and language, occupational, and/or physical therapies or social pragmatics) is 116. Forty-nine students are currently being evaluated and two students, attending community preschools, are on 504 Accommodation Plans.

Out-of-District Accounts
Currently there are 160 students in out-of-district placements. During the month of March, there were no changes at the elementary and middle school levels. At the high school level, two students were placed out-of-district and one student was placed out-of-district for a short term of thirteen days. Ten students are pending placement.

Special Education Transportation
As of April 6, 2010, a total of 475 students receive special education transportation (130 students to private placements/345 within the Newton Public Schools).

March, 2010
The following changes are noted:

• This month there are additional student needs, however as a result of staff resignations and reassignments, there is no change in the number of special education aide positions. The variance to the budget is slightly decreased.
• The number of students placed out of district is 158. The variance to the budget is slightly decreased.
• 471 students with special needs receive transportation (134 are in out of district placements/337 within NPS). The variance to the budget is slightly increased as a result of increased needs.

Central High School As of March 4, 2010 11 students are enrolled at Central High School. Two additional students have been referred.

The Newton Early Childhood Preschool Programs (NECP)
The Newton Early Childhood Preschool Programs (NECP) is currently serving 244 students. As of March 1, 2010 the program includes 74 students with special needs and 71 students without special needs in integrated preschool classrooms. Two students with special needs were placed in integrated classrooms (two children referred by Early Intervention) following initial eligibility meetings. Students receiving speech and language, occupational therapy, physical therapy or social pragmatics includes 99 students. The preschool is evaluating 49 students and provides two students, attending community preschools, with 504 Accommodation Plans.

Out-of-District Accounts
Currently there are 158 students in out-of-district placements. During the month of February, five students were placed out-of-district (one from the elementary level, one from the middle school level and three through cost share agreements.) In addition, at the high school level one student ended their placement and at the middle school level one student changed their placement.

Special Education Transportation
As of February 25, 2010, we have a total of 471 students receiving Special Education Transportation. We currently have 134 private placements and 337 within the system.

February, 2010
The following changes are noted

• There is 3.4 increase in PreK-12 special education aide positions. This is as a result of additional student needs and vacancy replacements. The variance to the budget has slightly increased from last month.
• The total enrollment in the preschool program is 231 (72 students with special needs; 71 students without special needs and 88 students who receive related services).
• The number of students placed out-of-district is 154. Three students were placed out-of-district in January. The variance to the out-of-district tuition budget decreased from last month.
• 458 students receive transportation services (129 students to private placements/329 within NPS). The variance to the budget has increased as a result of increased needs.

Central High School
As of January 28, 2010, 13 students are enrolled at Central High School. Eight additional students have been referred.

Out-of-District Accounts
Currently there are 154 students in out-of-district placements. During the month of January, three students were placed out-of-district (one at the preschool level, one at the middle school level and one through a cost share agreement). In addition, two students ended their placements at the high school level.

Special Education Transportation
As of January 28, 2010, we have a total of 458 students

January, 2010
This report was scanned in a way which made it hard to extract the data. Click the link to see the full report. If anyone has time to retype the data here, that would help.

December 2009
The following changes are noted:

• There is a 2.2 increase in PreK-12 special education aide positions. This continues as a result of students moving into the district and additional student needs. The variance to the budget has improved from last month.
• Two children left the preschool reducing the classroom enrollment to 135 (65 students with special needs; 70 students without special needs). The total enrollment in the preschool program is 216 including 81 children who receive related services.
• Contracted services remains the same as last month.
• The number of students placed out-of-district is 149 – 10 students were placed out-of-district. The variance to the out-of-district tuition budget has increased from last month.

Central High School
As of December 4, 2009, 11 students are enrolled at Central High School. A new student was expected to enter the program on December 7, 2009. Six additional students are in the referral process.

Preschool Status - Enrollment FY 09-10

The Newton Early Childhood Preschool Programs (NECP)
The Newton Early Childhood Preschool Programs (NECP) is currently serving 216 students. Asof December 1, 2009 the program includes 65 students with special needs and 70 studentswithout special needs in integrated preschool classrooms. One student, withspecial needs, was unilaterally placed, by parents, in a private special education school. One student without specialneeds has moved out of the district. Students receiving speech and language, occupationaltherapy, physical therapy or social pragmatics includes 81 students. The preschool is evaluating 40 students and provides 1 student, attending a community preschool, with a 504Accommodation Plan.

Out-of-District Accounts
There are currently 149 students in out-of-district placements. During the month of November, 10 students were placed out-of-district (2 at the elementary level, 2 at the middle school level, 1 at the high school level and 5 through cost share agreements).

Special Education Transportation
As of today, we have a total of 425 students receiving Special Education Transportation. We currently have 126 private placements and 299 within the system.

November, 2009
The following changes are noted

• There is a 6.5 increase in PreK-12 special education aide positions. This is the result of students moving into the district and additional student needs. Funds were transferred from the tuition budget to better manage the aide budget.
• Two children transitioned into the preschool program increasing classroom enrollment of special education students to 66 (total enrollment 212 including 75 children who receive related services).
• Contracted services have increased. This is the result of an increase in services provided by outside vendors and of employee leaves - funds were transferred from the substitute and tuition accounts to manage the contracted services account.
• 405 students receive transportation services (120 students to private placements/285 within NPS). The transportation estimate has increased - the result of a review of invoices for newer routes and

an assessment of all routes for the year.

Central High School
There are currently nine students enrolled at Central High School with six additional students in the referral process. Staff includes a full time counselor and three teachers certified in math, science, English, and social studies. Two of the teachers are dual certified in their content area and special education. There are also two aides - one certified in physical education and the other certified in geography/social studies. The mission of the program is to provide students with access to education within a supportive, therapeutic environment. Full program approval from the DESE was received on November 2, 2009.

Preschool Status - Enrollment FY 09-10

The Newton Early Childhood Preschool Program (NECP)
The Newton Early Childhood Preschool Program (NECP) is currently serving 212 students. As of November 1, 2009 the program includes 66 students with disabilities and 71 students without disabilities in integrated preschool classrooms. Students receiving speech and language, occupational therapy,physical therapy or social pragmatics includes 75 students. The preschool is evaluating 44 students andprovides 1 student, attending a community preschool, with a 504 Accommodation Plan.

Out-of-District Accounts
There are currently 139 students in out-of-district placements. Four students ended their placements, one at the elementary level and three at the high school level. Two students were placed out through a cost share agreement with parents and four students had a change in their placement. There was no change at the middle school level.

Special Education Transportation
As of today, we have 405 students receiving Special Education Transportation between private placements (120) and schools and services within the system (285).

October, 2009
Special Education Aide Assignments
There is a 5.1 increase in aide positions over the approved 354.1. The increase in aides is because of changes in current students’ needs, students newly identified as having special needs, and students with needs who recently moved into Newton. Additional aide support is anticipated in the months ahead as IEPs are finalized and students with needs move into the district. Any increases or decreases in aide support will be updated in future reports.
200 children are enrolled in the preschool program - 64 students with disabilities are currently in integrated classrooms. This is an increase of 15 students from October 2008 (five children moved in to Newton with IEPs; 10 children were identified the spring 2009 and/or turned three and referred from Early Intervention.
The number of students placed out of district is 141.
375 students receive transportation services (111 students to private placements/264 within the Newton Public Schools).

Preschool Status - Enrollment FY 08-09
The Newton Early Childhood Preschool Program (NECP) is currently serving 200 students. In October 2008, the program included 49 students with disabilities placed in the integrated preschool classrooms.
As of October 1, 2009, 64 students with disabilities are placed in integrated preschool classrooms. The increase of 15 students, from October 2008 to October 2009 includes five students who moved in from July 1, 2009 to September 30, 2009 with Individual Education Programs from other cities, towns, or states requiring placement in an integrated special education preschool. The additional 10 students account for children evaluated in the spring of 2009 and as a result are placed in an integrated classroom and/or student turning three years old and referred from Early Intervention. The preschool is evaluating 43 students and provides one student, attending a community preschool, with a 504 Accommodation Plan.

Out-of-District Accounts
Currently there are 141 students in out-of-district placements. Since June 30, 2009, 11 students graduated, two students returned to the district, one student dropped out, two students were privately placed, eight students with cost share agreements ended, three students moved, five students aged out, for a total of 32 placements ended. In addition, 19 students have been placed and 11 students have had a change in placement.

Special Education Transportation
As of today, October 2, 2009, we have 375 students receiving Special Education Transportation between private placements (111) and schools and services within the system (264).

School Committee Minutes related to Special Education

No minutes appear to be available after March 8th. Meeting summaries only are posted so far. No meeting summaries are available after 5/24. Will post when available --Gregorio 17:48, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

• 5/24/2010 Meeting Summary

No SPED discussion at this meeting.

• 5/10/2010 Meeting Summary

No SPED discussion at this meeting.

• 4/26/2010 Meeting Summary
  

He (Jim Marini) also announced that the Special Education program evaluation study bid was awarded to District Community Partners (web site) and the project is underway.

• 4/12/2010 Meeting Summary

Student Services Report: Judy Levin-Charns, Assistant Superintendent for Student Services, asked the Committee if the monthly report has been helpful and if they have any additional information that they would like her to include. Committee members commented that the current report is more of a budgetary document and requested more information around changes in population and programs, out-of-district comparisons, trends, and student achievement.

• 3/22/2010 Meeting Summary

No SPED discussion at this meeting.

• 3/08/2010 Full Minutes

- Parent thanked the Committee and administration for all the hard work they do for Newton’s children. Her son had severe developmental delay issues but, as a result of early intervention in the Education Center preschool and excellent programs and staff at Countryside Elementary School and Brown Middle School, he is doing very well.
- FY10 Budget ... Continued savings in salaries and utilities serve to offset increases in health insurance, unemployment and SPED....
- Budget Discussion, Sandy Guryan: ...In addition, the federal stimulus funds have helped bring down the cost of SPED. That will continue in FY11 and the challenge will then come in FY12. They have developed some very creative and innovative ways to run SPED programs, including the new alternative high school, which has resulted in cost savings...
- Math Coaches ... Paul Stein explained that the middle schools have been spending a great deal of professional development for teachers to meet in grade level department meetings working on common assessments and benchmarks and math coaches are critical in that process. They are experts in content and pedagogy and model for teachers directly in the classroom, as well as helping SPED staff with differentiating instruction. ...
- Steve Griffin Principal of Zervas Elementary School on Budget ... One area of major concern is the amount of mental health work principals have taken on, so maintaining the social workers is helpful. In addition, principals spend more time around SPED issues, which have become more complex without increased resources.
- Todd Harrison, Principal of Bigelow Middle School on Budget, has had the opportunity to have a part-time math coach through Title I funding. This person has served a very important role in terms of developing the programs and training the SPED staff, including teaching assistants, where there is a high degree of turnover every year.
- Gina Healy was able to find some funding for a math coach that has been in place for the past couple of months. ... She has also been working with both regular and SPED teachers around pedagogical issues.
- Todd Harrison is thankful for the additional SPED support, which allowed them to exchange some teaching assistant positions for teachers in the integrated program. This is very important to the needs of that population.
- PUBLIC COMMENT Jo-Louise Allen talked about the SPED review and the fact that it should not be rushed, as parents are concerned about having a chance for serious input. She hopes they will consider moving the dates for the preliminary findings. Reenie Murphy commented that the bids are still not opened and they are starting later than anticipated, so this is something they should discuss and consider.

• 2/22/2010 Full Minutes

No SPED discussion at this meeting.

• 2/08/2010 Full Minutes

- See also student services report (add link here)
- Student Services Report
- Reenie Murphy would like to see some more discussion on a future agenda around the trends in the SPED area.
- Susan Rosenbaum noted that this information does not track the specialists assigned to these students. She wondered if there are sufficient numbers and the size of their load.
- Jonathan Yeo noted that the aides and out-of-district placements are tracked closely because those are the two areas that fluctuate the most. The number of occupational and physical therapists is set systemwide at the beginning of the year and while there are shifts during the year the numbers are fairly constant at each school.
- Judy Levin-Charns added that one area where they may see some increase is in the case load of inclusion facilitators as students move in with significant needs.
- Geoff Epstein asked about the capacity at Central High.
- Judy Levin-Charns stated that they currently have 13 and are targeting 16. However, like any other program, it can have a moving population.
- SPED Consultant Status - Jim Marini asked Deputy Superintendent Paul Stein to address the next topic under the Superintendent’s Report, which is the status of the hiring of the SPED consultant.
- Paul Stein stated that the consultant will review the programs and make recommendations regarding improvements and economies, as well as highlighting what Newton is doing well. Interviews have been held and reference checks are occurring. They hope to have someone on board very soon to begin this work.
- Kurt Kusiak hopes that the consultant will have meetings with the principals for feedback around the needs and what works best in their individual schools. - Paul Stein assured the Committee that the consultants will get a great deal of feedback from a variety of constituents. - Budget Sandy Guryan ... Continued savings in salaries and utilities serve to offset increases in health insurance, unemployment and SPED....
- Elementary Space Needs Zervas: Steve Griffin noted that they are anticipating the need for an additional classroom next year, which they can accommodate by using one of the SPED rooms that was previously a small classroom.
- Elementary Space Needs, Horace Mann, Greg Hurray ... This will require finding space for the programs currently in that area which are ELL, OT, speech & language, and math coaching. They will deal with the situation as best possible and Mike and Heidi are working with them to convert some space for that purpose...

• 1/25/2010 Full Minutes

Jim Marini - Superintendents Report... Finally, he asked Paul Stein, Deputy Superintendent, to provide an update on the Special Education (SPED) review.
- Paul Stein indicated that interviews have been conducted and he is now in the process of doing background checks. They are very close to choosing a firm to conduct the study.
- NNHS Heidi Black stated that there are 60 typical classrooms shared between math, English, history, and world language. In addition, there are 16 science labs and a lot of smaller individually designed spaces for SPED, ELL, etc.

• 1/11/2010 Full Minutes

- Budget, Sandy Guryan They continue to monitor Special Education (SPED) costs and there are four additional students since last month, with associated transportation costs, but this is offset by attrition in the aides’ account, which has resulted in some savings.
- Class Size Report - Jen Price Principal NNHS Rather than having separate SPED English classes they are attempting to have them co-taught by a regular and SPED teacher. They also attempt to keep Curriculum 2 level classes smaller with co-teaching as well.
- Kurt Kusiak asked how that benefits the classes academically.
- Jen Price responded that it allows for smaller groupings of students to work together and for the regular education teacher certified in a particular area to focus on providing the knowledge of the subject matter to the students while the SPED teacher can work on processing issues, note-taking, extra support, differentiating instruction, etc. One of the things they are very proud of is the increased number of students with Downs Syndrome passing the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exams. While it challenges class size issues, it also fosters the goal of holding all students to high expectations.
- Joel Stembridge, Principal of Newton South, stated they have multi-level classes as well and are seeing an increase in students staying in Curriculum 1 courses as they progress on in their grades.
- Audrey Peller, Principal of Ward Elementary School Some students have SPED aides and they have some limited availability to utilize them for the full class. - Race to the Top Program, Paul Stein ... This is a competitive grant and Massachusetts will learn the outcome in April. This would make the district eligible for four consecutive years of additional Title 1 funds of at least $75,000 to initiate projects. Key areas outlined by the program are building capacity, college and career readiness, shoring up struggling schools, recruiting more teachers in the areas of science, technology, engineering & math (STEM), SPED and English Language Learners (ELL).
- Budget Sandy Guryan They continue to monitor Special Education (SPED) costs and there are four additional students since last month, with associated transportation costs, but this is offset by attrition in the aides’ account, which has resulted in some savings.

• 12/14/2009 Superintendent Search Meeting, Full Minutes

- Consultant Deb Raizes noted the incredible turnout and response from the focus groups; 311 people and 519 survey forms. The focus groups included a wide range of constituents, including but not limited to, parents, students, administrators, school committee members, METCO, Special Education, English Language Learners. In all their experience they believe this is the best document they have ever reviewed.

• 12/14/2009 Full Minutes

- Budget Sandy Guryan Special education (SPED) costs remain a concern, as a number of new student placements within the past 30 days have increased the tuition forecast, but this has been offset by increased savings in other categories including aides. - Student Services Report (add link here) Judy Levin-Charns, Assistant Superintendent for Student Services, presented the monthly report, which tracks activity for aides, contracted services, out-of-district tuitions, and transportation. SPED and preschool aides and budget comparisons by full-time equivalences (FTEs) for each level are included, as well as a cost breakdown and the number of FTE aides per school. There is a 2.2 FTE increase in aides. There are currently 11 students enrolled in the alternative high school (Central High), with six additional students in the referral process. Preschool enrollment has decreased by two resulting in 135 students – 65 with special needs and 70 without, and an additional 81 children who receive related services. The number of students placed out-of-district is 149; an additional 10 from last month.
- Marc Laredo questioned the optimal enrollment at Central High this year.
-Judy Levin-Charns stated that initially they set it at 16. She has been asked about increasing that number and they will analyze that request.
- MCAS Results, Paul Stein Newton also continues to score very favorably with comparison communities. However, there still remains a significant achievement gap in regard to some subgroups (African-American, Hispanic, SPED, English Language Learners) and they are constantly working on ways to level that field.
- Metco Lisa Reed Newton Metco Director ... If a METCO student with special needs requires an out-of-district placement that is handled and funded by the Boston Public Schools.

• 11/23/2009 Full Minutes

- Jim Marini Inclusive Schools Netwok Third, he mentioned the proclamation of the Inclusive Schools Network at Education Development Center, Inc., in declaring the week of December 7-11, 2009 as Inclusive Schools Week, which encourages schools and classrooms to sponsor appropriate learning and community–building activities. He noted that Newton is proud of its commitment of supporting the full inclusion model.
- Judy Levin-Charns, Assistant Superintendent for Student Services, read the proclamation and mentioned several activities (Gregorio does anyone have this or know what activities Newton was involved in?) in which Newton Public Schools will be involved in this program.
- Jonathan Yeo thanked the staff, as well as the Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SPED PAC), for their active involvement in this work.
- MOTION: It was moved to support the proclamation of the Inclusive Schools Network at Education Development Center, Inc., in declaring the week of December 7-11, 2009 as Inclusive Schools Week, which encourages schools and classrooms to sponsor appropriate learning and community–building activities.
- SPED Study, Dori Zaleznik mentioned that the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the SPED study has gone to the City and will be posted on 12/3, prescreened on 12/9, with the deadline for proposals being 12/17. The subcommittee anticipates being able to begin interviews after January 1 and hopefully have someone on board by the end of January.

• 11/09/2009 Full Minutes

-Budget, Sandy Guryan While special education (SPED) costs remain a concern, the tuition budget and continued placement of students within the district (Gregorio 18:00, 6 July 2010 (UTC)I wonder which placement this refers to and if the parents had any choice...?) has yielded savings. - Budget, Sandy Guryan explained that as they changed the approach to how lunches were being served at the elementary schools, they had to take these cases school-by-school and determine if there was sufficient support. At this point, she believes it is a stable situation.
- Kurt Kusiak was struck by the decrease in SPED reimbursements from 75% to 40%.
- Sandy Guryan stated that this is a result of the economic downturn and came about last spring, when the State budget and federal stimulus money was being finalized. They are disappointed to have lost more than a million dollars of reimbursements, but fortunately they accounted for it and do not have to make any changes at this point.
- Student Services Report
- Judy Levin-Charns, Assistant Superintendent for Student Services, presented the monthly report, which tracks activity for aides, contracted services, out-of-district tuitions, and transportation. SPED and preschool aide and budget comparisons by full-time equivalences (FTEs) for each level are included, as well as a cost breakdown for aides and the number of FTE aides per school. There is a 6.5 FTE increase in aides and there are 405 students receiving SPED transportation services.
- Walter Lyons, Dept. Head, thanked the School Committee for funding the alternative high school (Central High) program in this difficult and challenging budget year. This program will serve the neediest students who otherwise would be placed outside the system at a far greater cost. Full program approval was received from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) on 11/2/09. There are currently nine students enrolled; one who elected to return from an outside place, with six additional students in the referral process. Staff for this program includes a director, a full-time counselor, two-and-a-half teachers certified in math, science, English and social studies (with two being dual certified in content area and SPED), and two aides (one certified in physical education and the other in geography/social studies). They are looking at the growth process of the program in a slow and measured pace. The students and staff feel that they are part of a supported community. He invited the Committee to visit the facility as the transformation of the area is astounding. A full report will be presented to the Committee in January.
- Kurt Kusiak is very impressed with this program because it meets the needs of students, is innovative and cost effective. It is a wonderful model for how they should be reviewing all their programs.
- Marc Laredo asked about maximum enrollment.
- Judy Levin-Charns replied that for the first year they are looking at 12-15, but next year they may be able to increase that to 20, as there is an additional unrenovated space available in the building.
- Marc Laredo suggested that when they return with an update in January, they be prepared to talk about the in-house vs. outplacement costs, which would be helpful in analyzing the program. - Matt Hills noted that it is almost intuitive to know that the program has educational value given they are keeping students in their home community. He asked how many students they had originally projected vs. what is in place, the point at which there are enough students where there is no additional cost savings, and given unlimited funds and space what they would like to see as the maximum number of students that could be serviced.
- Judy Levin Charns responded that they had anticipated 12-16 students the first year and expect to reach that level. - Walter Lyons stated that he anticipates the cost analysis to show that it is cheaper to keep students in-house than to send them to an outside placement. A similar program he worked in at Medford Public Schools had a component where students from outside the community paid tuition to attend. Overall size for this type of program in his opinion should be 35-40 maximum because beyond that they start to lose the sense of community.
- Reenie Murphy asked about the services provided to the pre-school students that are being evaluated and if this number seems higher than usual.
- Judy Levin-Charns noted that it runs the gamut from those who will ultimately need a full integrated program, some whom will only need half time and others who might require related services such as speech & language, occupational or physical therapy. The numbers ebb and flow through the years and this does not seem exceptionally high.
-Susan Rosenbaum asked about the increased number of aides.
-Judy Levin-Charns replied that it was a result of needs of students who moved into the system.
- FY11 Budget Margie Ross Decter noted that there are a number of places where they want to fund evaluations, such as SPED and math coaches, and these are areas that need to be addressed sooner vs. later because they require Request for Proposals (RFPs) and will take time to go through the process. Therefore, she would like to better understand how they might utilize time and resources to make progress on some of these important areas in the CAG report and SPED parent advisory council (PAC) recommendations, so that they can make real time changes and improvements to costly programs if necessary.

• 10/26/2009 Full Minutes

- Personnel Report Sandy Guryan The general fund is 19.7 full-time equivalencies (FTEs) over budget mostly due to the anticipated hiring of 19 special education (SPED) aides. This was offset through both turnover savings and savings in utilities. She mentioned the plan to bring in a consultant to do a more thorough review of the SPED program.
- Marc Laredo commented that there is a direct correlation between the amount of money available and number of teachers hired. Given the size of the system, a 5% turnover rate indicates a tremendous level of continuity and budget accuracy. However, he does continue to have concerns about the number of aides in the system, which seems to have decreased in regular education and increased in SPED. This is having increasing implications for the budgets and they need to understand and grapple with the problem. He looks forward to seeing the work of the consultant in this area so that they can have a better understanding of what is driving this issue.
- FY11 Budget Guidelines Marc Laredo ... Finally, he believes they need to incorporate the SPED review in the Guidelines.
- Dori Zaleznik stated that the SPED study will not get underway until after the 1st of the year, so if they are going to incorporate that into the Guidelines the best place would be the second year of the multi-budget.
- Jo Louise Allen announced the upcoming international program of Inclusive Schools Week, which is in its 9th year, and managed by Educational Development Corporation, which is housed in Newton. The program’s goals are around inclusion in socio-economic, multi-cultural, racial, ethnicity, sexual orientation and disabilities. She then mentioned MASC/MASS resolution #3 on Medicaid, which has an impact on the SPED program. Newton is an “opt in” community vs. many other communities which are “opt out.” This difference can make it difficult to obtain reimbursements because often families will not choose to opt in for privacy purposes or not totally understanding the program. Therefore, a change to “opt out” most likely will result in increased funding. Also, this reimbursement currently goes back to the City and while historically it has always been returned to the school system, this cannot be guaranteed. Finally, she mentioned that there are other service delivery models that could reduce the amount of SPED aides, such as hiring more special education teachers coming right out of school. They would cost the system less money, would not require

• 10/14/2009 Full Minutes

No SPED discussion at this meeting. Meeting focused on superintendent search.

• 10/13/2009 Full Minutes

FY10 Budget Report Sandy Guryan ... Nearly all positions are filled and the Federal Stimulus Grant is funded and being used, as planned, for a number of Special Education (SPED) initiatives. SPED costs continue to represent the main area of challenge.
- Jonathan Yeo mentioned that they need to be aware of the possibility of additional cuts at the State level and to consider how they might be able to absorb another shock to the system.
- Reenie Murphy agreed and noted that this could mean mid-year cuts.

• 9/29/2009 Full Minutes

- Subcommittee Liason Report, Dori Zaleznik, Chair of the Special Education (SPED) Subcommittee, noted that they put off the preparation of the Request for Proposal (RFP) to hire a consultant to conduct a SPED study because they had been focusing on the RFP for the consultant search, as it is such a time-consuming process. It is likely this will be completed after the 1st of the year.

• 9/14/2009 Full Minutes

- FY09 Final Budget Report, Sany Guryan ... During FY09 the Student Services Special Education (SPED) area was under budget, so the program ended the year with a savings. However, because they had to pay more for tuition at the end of the year in order to save the Circuit Breaker funding, it looks as if there was a loss. So it is really an accounting function and in essence that program cost less than was planned.
- Motion It was moved to accept the grants (Kindergarten Enhancement, Racial Imbalance (METCO), Title IIA-Teacher Quality CFDA: 84:367, Enhanced Education Through Technology: Title II-D, CFDA 84:318, SPED 240 CFDA 84.027, Community Service Learning, Perkins, Threat Assessment Training and Support) totaling $5,779,896, as outlined in the memorandum of 9/9/09.

Links to NPS and PAC Web SPED Sites

Newton Parent Advisory Committee Web Site: http://www.newtonpac.org

PAC Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/newtonpac/

Main Newton Special Education Page: http://www3.newton.k12.ma.us/studentservices

History of special education in Newton

Anyone with history, please add it here or leave it on the discussion page.

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