NPS:Special Education
Considerations for Co-Taught Classrooms
A recent BSEA case says that moving a child to a co-taught classroom is not a new "placement".
See: http://www.doe.mass.edu/bsea/rulings/11-0594.doc
Parents who have a concern with Newton's co-taught classroom and do not want to send their child to a co-taught class can still reject an IEP. You need to do it based on something more than just the fact that its a co-taught class. Think carefully about what your concerns are and if NPS can address those concerns within the co-taught class.
For example, if you have a 1:1 aide and you want to keep that level of attention for your child you can ask that they keep the 1:1 aide in the co-taught class. If you have concerns about your child being in a largely special education class you can make that case. Regardless, make sure to send a letter to the Team. Get an attorney or advocate if you can.
You should decide as early as possible if you will send your child to a co-taught class if it's adapated or you absolutely will not, regardless of changes.
Here are some suggestions for ways to follow up on co-taught classes and make the case that they should be adapted or are not right for your child:
- Get an independent evaluation (often paid ofr by insurance). Have that person meet with your child then visit the co-taught class. Ask them to document the needs of your child and what you child will need which is not available in the co-taught class.
- e.g needs a quiet space to learn to read like a Learning Center or needs more constant supervision (aka aide).
- Ask for the resumes and credentials of the teachers in the co-taught class. Get your own expert to state whether they have the skills or training to provide the services your child needs.
- Ask for the a list of the diagnoses of the other chilrd in the class and ask for their IEPs. Get an expert to state whether it's not a valid cohort (aka the other children are or are not appropriate peers).
If there's no way you will send your child to the co-taught class, look at the private school options and prepare to leave the district. Make sure you get an advocate or attorney to help you with that. There are many important steps and rules you need to take before leaving the district (e.g. you must give the school system 10 days notice). Once you say you will leave the district and ask Newton to pay, they may relent and agree to keeping your child in regular class with a 1:1 aide. They may not. Most likely they will just put up a legal battle to try and stop you.
Here's a related example: http://www.doe.mass.edu/bsea/decisions/10-1957.doc
If you can get NPS to adapt the co-taught class then you should do that. That's the best case for everbody.
Summer Camp Info
Links and Comments on Summer Camps
SPED Study Links and Documents
NPS contracted with a group to do a study of special education. Their final report is due in January.
Web site of group doing the a study of special education: http://districtandcommunitypartners.org/
RFP issued for the study:
http://www.ci.newton.ma.us/purchasing/bids/fy10/10-30-RFP-SPED-Conslt(2).pdf
Glossary of Special Education Terms Used in Newton
Please add to this section and write definitions.
- Inclusion
- Integrated classes
- Inclusion Facilitator
- Team
- Aide
- Behavior Therapist
- BCBA
- Out of district placement
- Cost share
- Co-taught classrooms
- Stabilization program
- Neighborhood Inclusion
- Learning Center
- IEP
- 504 plan
- Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA)
- Integrated program
- Language development classes (REACH)
- Office of student services
- Early Childhood Program
- Ed Center
Report on trends in Special Education
Report on trends in Special Education by Judy Levin-Charns from 6/2010
The following graph projects the data from the trends report in to the future. Based on the data from 2003 - 2009, the average rate of growth in each category is used to predict the numbers up to 2019.
See also comments on the 6/28/2010 meeting
Community Advisory Group Report on School Costs
This detailed report includes a long section on Special Education.
They looked at:
- The efficacy and fiscal sustainability of the Neighborhood Inclusion model;
- The lack of agreed-upon metrics to measure outcomes of programs and services;
- 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.);
- A lack of transparency about the special education programs and services provided within Newton Public Schools;
- 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:
- Aides
- Transportation costs
- Out of district tuitions
- 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 6 year review of Newton's special education programs:
This is an excellent guide to what the school system is supposed to do. It also lists where they are close but deficient.
http://www.doe.mass.edu/pqa/review/cpr/reports/2007/0207.doc
Here is the response to the items cited as partially implemented:
http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/central_admin/documents/NEWTONCAPReviewCoverLetterandApprovalFormFINAL_001.pdf
- State's Three year mid-cycle review
DESE Review of Submitted Reports and Status Sheet
Follow up on three year review
2010 Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Mid-cycle Report
Student Services Reports
The latest report is below.
The student services report is part of the Fiscal and Operations. Report for 12-13-10 is below:
http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/schoolcommittee/_documentsFY11/fiscal_&_operational_report_12_13_10.pdf
Student Services/Special Education
The current status of key areas of the Student Services budget is summarized in Appendix A.
The deficit for all Student Services accounts is currently -$673,977, an increase of $187,020
since last month with increases in all areas of spending. Over half of the increase in the deficit
is due to Special Education transportation; 23 additional students require transport service
versus last month. Aide accounts are projected to be over budget by $396,223 due to a higher
than expected number of new students on Individualized Education Programs. The deficit for
all salaries is $9,163 higher than last month.
The deficit in out-of-district tuition of $130,009 is $21,132 higher than last month due to two additional placements in November; the number of students placed outside the district is currently 171. Circuit Breaker funds were used to credit out-of-district tuition in November in the amount of $1,360,750 including $868,895 from remaining FY10 funds and $491,855 from Quarter 1 of FY11. The forecast for contracted services has increased by $48,632 since last month; an annual deficit of $157, 413 is projected. The contracted services increase is due to additional needs for home based assessments and direct ABA services provided by outside contractors. All aspects of the Student Services budget are reviewed weekly and in some cases daily so that the estimates of full cost for the fiscal year can be as accurate as possible. The Early Childhood Program is currently serving 217 students, one more than last year at this time. Evaluation of preschool student needs is ongoing with 46 students currently receiving evaluation services. Central High School continues to enroll 14 students, the same number as reported in November.
Out of District Placements Graphs
NPS stopped reporting how many out of district placements are due to cost shares in the school year starting September 2010. As of November, 2010 the total number of out of district placements is 171. An increase of 21 (14%) over Novemember 2010.
The charts below show the growth of out of district placements through May 2010.
In particular, the fraction of "cost share" placements is growing faster than out of district as a whole and faster than Newton placements.
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
We could add a page here for each school. It can include comments by parents on special education, lists of programs and services etc.
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
The main Newton Public Schools Documentation Project page is here: Home Page
This project and information is not affiliated with the Newton Public Schools or the Newton School Committee. It is an independent effort by private citizens intended to help the people of Newton learn more about the Newton Public Schools
Much of this information is extracted from the document archive linked from All School Committe Docs
Additional comments and information from public sources have also been included. The contents and links may have been edited as well. No representation is made as to the accuracy or validity of this information. This page is only intended to help people more easily keep in touch with the work of the Newton School Committee
Please add your comments on the discussion page and add to or update any other pages