School Committee Hears From Administrators on Special Education Services

Administrators from every corner of Lexington Public Schools were in attendance at the School Committee meeting Tuesday, Feb. 8, where the main topic of discussion was special education student services and the pre-K to grade 12 student services budget.

Linda Chase, director of Student Services for Lexington, took to the podium to tell the School Committee about overall administrative action and protocol for this past year, and the outlook for next year.

“Over the past four years we decided we need to understand and develop a sophisticated program to adhere to the needs of all students with special needs,” said Chase.

“We now employ, in a cost effective way, board certified analysts for autistic children and others in the special education programs either in school or at home,” Chase continued.

She also explained that a new Student Services Manual was completed this past year and has been given to all administrators. The manual that explains the, “nuts and bolts of the educational process,” according to Chase.

Individual evaluation programs have also been successful this past year, said Chase, along with great development courses to continue training staff.

Aside from special needs, Chase mentioned that, “Lexington's pre-school has been expanded…. We also have augmented our communications specialists, evaluation psychologists and physical therapists.”

School Committee Member Jessie Steigerwald said people sometimes have a hard time understanding administration and "seeing how everything fits together,” she said.

Chase said she agreed with Steigerwald, and explained the goal to lessen the gap between administrative jargon and common understanding for the community. She noted that Lexington Public Schools administrators are always open and willing to work to close the gap between parents and the school system, be it working with understanding their child's disabilities or otherwise.

However, Chase expressed concern that the administration is still under-staffed, an issue that wasn't looked at throughly enough when making the PK-12 budget, she said. Chase explained that many administrators' time is being taken away from program improvement and evaluations to do clerical work that bogs down their primary functions as administrators.

“Everything Mrs. Chase shared is correct,” said Superintendent Paul Ash. “Special Education and administrative needs are often at the end of the line in scheduling, so we need an answer next year to make sure nothing is forgotten. And it's not a technological or an administrative answer, it's a human solution. We cannot afford to over-look anything in our schools, especially special education.”

Meg Colella, principal of the Bridge School, pointed to cooperation between schools as the answer.

"Teamwork and collaboration in our scheduling between schools will make us efficient and make things work," she said.

Chase said overall, things are moving in a good direction.

“We are moving in a positive direction," she said. "It could mean consolidating some staff to make room for other positions and to aid overall efficiency.”

The Lexington Public Schools proposed budget now stands at $73.1 million, a $4.2 million (or roughly a 6 percent) increase over the fiscal 2011 budget. Personnel costs (six new positions in total, mainly added to special education) and the rise in cost for special education tuition are the main factors in the budget increase.

Although school groups and staff voiced opposition over another , the cuts were necessary to close the budget gap, school officials said.