Schools
School Officials Say Staff Layoffs Would Affect Quality of Education
Arlene Bosco provides the school board a detailed report on the districts current special education programs.
In an effort to keep the school board up-to-date on Seekonk's special education programs, Director of Pupil Personnel Services, Arlene Bosco, presented a detailed special education report during last Wednesday's meeting. The report highlighted increases of special education students in certain areas - and the surmountable savings the department has been able to save through new programs.
“When I took this job the number of students diagnosed with Autism was four, now that number is 24. There were three students diagnosed with emotional disabilities and the numbers in that category are skyrocketing,” said Bosco.
New considerations have been added to the autism checklist this year, including social emotional status and a special requirement of bullying prevention and intervention. Bosco said that the department is particularly concerned with the increase in numbers of emotionally disabled students.
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While the numbers in various categories are troubling to the department, Bosco noted that when compared to neighboring communities, Seekonk is only slightly higher than Swansea, but it is significantly lower than Somerset.
“The state percentage for special education students is 17 percent, [at 13 percent] we are doing well in Seekonk,” said Bosco.
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The state is also focused on tying the early intervention of students with their regular education. This can be done through preschoolers attending a regular early childhood program. Schools are starting with students that are just over two-and-a-half-years old, so that when they are three there is already a comprehensive plan in place for the student.
“Social and emotional behaviors are becoming a huge piece [of evaluations],” said Bosco.
Bosco also explained to the board the issues that would arise if the district is non-compliant with state Families and Advocates Partnership for Education (FAPE) mandates. The state ensures FAPE through monitoring and consequences.
“The performance report is tied to the superintendent’s evaluation. They will withhold funds, but you still get the bill,” said Bosco.
Parents have the right to take their children to another district of the schools are non-compliant, but the schools will still be responsible for paying for those students. Any level of non-compliance can result in a withholding of funds, including the entitlement grant which was $449,836 for fiscal year 2011.
“The entitlement grant is a huge amount of money,” said Bosco.
Corrections to any reports of non-compliance must be made within a year and complaints must be resolved within a 60-day timeline.
Bosco went on to detail the tremendous savings the school department has made by keeping students in-house and not out placing them into other districts. The elementary, middle and high schools were able to save over $1 million combined with their in-house services. This is a feat that would not be achievable without proper staffing and funding.
“The staff we have is essential to our programs,” said Bosco.
Seekonk High School Principal Marcia McGovern also spoke to the board regarding the importance of maintaining her staff at the numbers they are currently operating with in order to remain within the accreditation requirements set forth by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC).
“We are doing the best we can with the number of people that we have. Any loss means that we have to look at what we’re offering and figure out if we have enough people to continue doing so,” said McGovern.
When asked if a change in accreditation status would have a direct affect on the students and the ability to get into colleges McGovern answered frankly, “yes."
