Orange to address shortcomings in special education programs ...

Acknowledging that there is room for improvement in the way special education is delivered in Orange County, district staff put forth a plan to make changes before next school year.

Anna Diaz, who heads up special education for the district, presented a summary of the changes at a board workshop Thursday night. The workshop was?the board?s?follow-up to a session several weeks ago when parents and advocates expressed concerns about the district?s special education services:

The improvements would touch on areas including funding, transition services for students with disabilities who are preparing to graduate, restraint and seclusion, inclusion in regular education classes and increased training, including of staff, teachers, administrators and law enforcement officers on campuses.

-Addressing concerns that different principals spend differently on special education, special education director Anna Diaz promised to work with the budget office to identify school-by-school disparities and develop better ways to allocate special education staff next year.

-Currently, there are only 8 sites where students with moderate to severe disabilities can learn job skills as part of a ?transition? program out of high school. Diaz set a goal of adding at least 4 new sites next year by recruiting businesses and looking within OCPS for opportunities. She also said her office would consider changing the criteria for which students are eligible for transition services.

-As part of efforts to reduce how often disabled students are restrained, Orange will host a meeting of large districts to learn about best practices.

-At a workshop several weeks ago, several parents complained that students are being automatically diverted away from some schools because of their disability, and never being given a chance for inclusion in their neighborhood school. Other times, students are in their neighborhood schools, but are kept away from their peers except for classes like gym, art and music. Diaz said the district would review the practice of inclusion districtwide and will replicate high-performing programs and peer mentoring programs.

-Diaz also outlined additional training on serving and meeting the needs of special education students, including to law enforcement officers on campus. Sublette suggested that training on the legal aspects of special education services be expanded for principals and assistant principals, and that parents also be offered training at schools.

At the end of the workshop, Superintendent Barbara Jenkins addressed parents and advocates in attendance. ?Orange County Public Schools is dedicated to the success of all 181,000 students we serve. We are open to feedback. I am convinced we can get ore done if we work together.?

Source: http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_education_edblog/2012/10/orange-to-address-shortcomings-in-special-education-programs.html

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