NPS:Special Education

General documents related to Special Education

Report on trends in Special Education

Report on trends in Special Education by Judy Levin-Charns

See also the my comments on the 6/28/2010 meeting

Community Advisory Group Report on School Costs

See: http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/schoolcommittee/_documentsFY09/CAG_School_Cost_Structure_Report_04_14_09.pdf

This detailed report includes a long section on Special Education.

They looked at:

1. The efficacy and fiscal sustainability of the Neighborhood Inclusion model;
2. The lack of agreed-upon metrics to measure outcomes of programs and services;
3. The absence of a consistent and easily understandable summary of special education costs and revenues (presented in a way that allows easy analysis of growth trends, etc.);
4. A lack of transparency about the special education programs and services provided within Newton Public Schools;
5. A lack of public understanding about special education generally – what it is, the diversity of the special needs population and profiles, the legal mandates under which services are provided, and the individualized nature of each student’s educational plan.

And they identified three areas of cost growth:

1. Aides
2. Transportation costs
3. Out of district tuitions
4. Contracted services

This section (bold emphasis added) discusses the idea of city wide classes. Despite the concerns raised in this report, this approach was adopted in the FY 11 budget and will be implemented this year (2010 - 2011). AFAIK, any analysis of integrated classrooms was not made public.

"In January 2008, the Newton Public Schools modeled the cost of creating substantially separate classrooms in each elementary school to determine if clustering children within their schools would reduce costs (by reducing the number of aides). The modeling showed that in 13 of the 14 elementary schools, clustering students into a substantially separate classroom would have been approximately $582,000 more expensive. The analysis did not model the costs of clustering the students across the City or by villages as this “would not only pose a further regression for any inclusive practice, but would add transportation costs.” (As noted above, special education transportation costs grew at a CAGR of 10% from 2004-2008.) Note, too, that space constraints may make the creation of substantially separate classrooms infeasible.

Substantially separate classrooms may also not be desirable or appropriate from an academic standpoint. Because each child’s needs are unique and can vary widely (even within a “common” or “like” disability), there may not be an appropriate grouping at a certain grade level to support substantially separate classrooms that would meet the students’ academic needs. The Newton Public Schools are working on modeling and documenting the viability of more integrated classrooms. The Citizen Advisory Group applauds this effort and encourages the Newton Public Schools to make its analysis available to the public."

State Reports on SPED in Newton

State review of Newton's special education programs: http://www.doe.mass.edu/pqa/review/cpr/reports/2007/0207.doc

This is an excellent guide to what the school system is supposed to do. It also lists where they are close but deficient.

Here is the response to the items which cited as partially implemented: http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/central_admin/documents/NEWTONCAPReviewCoverLetterandApprovalFormFINAL_001.pdf

Student Services Reports

"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."

There are nine Students services reports delivered to the school committee every year. The most recent report is below.

The latest report is below, older reports are 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).

Out of District Placements Chart

The charts show the growth of out of district placements in the past three years. In particular, the fraction of "cost share" placements is growing faster than out of district as a whole and faster than Newton placements. "Cost share" placement represent cases where the parents were unable to secure a Free and Appropriate Public Education as required by law.

School Committee Minutes related to Special Education

Comments and links from the most recent meeting are below.

Notes from past meetings are here

Three main points related to Special Education at the June 28 meeting. Minutes and meetings summaries are not posted yet.

1 - A new Autism focused school Integrated Learning Academy - Newton was approved to open on Oak St. It was a formality for the school committee but Paul Stein did an inspection and reviewed their plan and gave the OK. They still have to get approval from the state, which may happen before September. See their statement of philosophy here: http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/schoolcommittee/_documentsFY10/private_school_approval_ilan_06_28_10.pdf

2 - Judy LC gave a presentation on SPED trends. See her report here: http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/schoolcommittee/_documentsFY10/sped_trends_06_28_10.pdf
One point not mentioned in the meeting: If ASD growth and Specific Learning Disorder reduction continues at current rates, ASD will become the most common diagnosis for SPED in Newton in less than 10 years.

3 - The personnel report lists lots of SPED Aide leaving. See: http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/schoolcommittee/_documentsFY10/personnel_report_06_28_2010.pdf

Links to NPS and PAC Web 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

The Newton Partnership: http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/newtonpartnership

Special Education Programs and Services

Links from NPS Web site: Main Special Education Page
Stabilization Programs
Guide to All Programs
Co-Taught Neighborhood Classroms

History of special education in Newton

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

More? add your own and comment

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