East Lyme Public Schools, CT

Excerpted from: http://www.eastlymeschools.org/uploaded/documents/district/boe_meetings/2009_boe_minutes/11-09-09_Boe_regular_minutes.pdt. On November 10, 2008, the East Lyme Public Schools Board contracted with Futures Education to provide a clinical and educational analysis of ELPS special education programs. Dr. Michael Neiman, Senior Vice President, and Dr. Dominick Vita, Senior Special Education Consultant, presented the report.

Areas of concentration included:
1) the efficiency and effectiveness of related services
2) programs to support pre-school students with educational disabilities on the autism spectrum
3) a review of paraprofessional utilization
4) transportation 4513
5) as currently constituted, the financial implications of the delivery system

Confidential interviews of clinicians, educators, administrators, and paraprofessionals were conducted to attain qualitative information. Over fifty Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) were reviewed. Comparative analysis and site visits at all levels were conducted.

Primary findings included:
Strengths
1) related service providers have an excellent understanding of the educational (vs. medical and clinical) model of school-based practice that is reflected in a review of their IEPs
2) IEPs are well written, cohesive, and educationally directed
3) pre-school program is extremely well run and provides the district’s special- and typical students with a high level of personnel and programmatic excellence
4) high commitment among all special education stakeholders to provide a quality education to students
5) an emerging proactive intervention program

Challenges
1) neither the related service providers nor those overseeing paraprofessional assignments currently possess entry and exit criteria for these services
2) there appears to be a very liberal interpretation of, and perhaps in some cases a misunderstanding of what constitutes a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) within the District among parents and those involved in the PPT process that include “borderline” educational interventions and first opinion “outside”evaluations
3) curtailing present and future special education costs
4) staying within budget with respect to transportation costs
Note: Special education identification rates and costs are higher than districts in our DRG and State averages. Special education costs in this district have risen from 18% to 23% over the last 5 years.

Recommendations include:
1) institute exit and entry criteria for all services and paraprofessional supports
2) have frank discussions regarding FAPE as it pertains to special education programming
3) centralize control for the incoming Assistant Superintendent with respect to staffing (for related services) and contractors and overseeing a secondary layer of administration to support the PPT (Pupil Placement Team) process
4) increase service providers’ personal capacity via intensive professional development
5) reorganize routes, purchasing and bidding across both regular and special education transportation

In addition, clarification of procedural issues and implementation of clear and consistent entry/exit criteria among all schools will serve as tools to drive PPT determinations. A Special Education Coordinator will provide consistency in the special education process throughout the district. Parents and staff must work together to make programs more efficient while maximizing services for students. Contracted outside services should rarely be necessary given East Lyme’s qualified and well-trained staff. The transition process is estimated to unfold over a possibly 3-year period by implementing various methodologies and expanding regular education intervention services.

Task Force responsibilities:
A task force consisting of 4 administrators, 1 school psychologist, and 3 special education teachers has been charged with analyzing the Futures Education report and providing the Superintendent with recommendations to improve both the effectiveness and the efficiency of our special education program and practices. Recommendations will be formulated by the end of the 2009 calendar year.