Special-ed children progress by move to mainstream

WILMINGTON -- It's too early to tell how New Hanover County Schools' new delivery of special education services will affect student performance.

But Melissa Miller already is noticing a change.

The Holly Tree Elementary School teacher, who instructs autistic children in grades three through five, said her students are responding positively to the district's efforts to provide them with more inclusion into general education classes.

They're staying on topic, being more involved and asking questions about their assignments, a big difference from what Miller is accustomed to seeing.

"A lot of the children have risen to the occasion of meeting the challenges in the classrooms," she said.

Last year, more than 3,000 special-needs students were enrolled in New Hanover County schools, and more than 1,200 elementary students were not at grade level, mainly because of disabilities.

This year is the first for the district's special education restructuring plan for elementary schools, which aims to offer more intense reading and math instruction to students with disabilities. Special education programs have been revised to offer a focused approach for academic, social and behavioral support. Reorganizing services to a four-region system allows students to receive instruction closer to home.

Earlier in the year, the plan was surrounded by controversy when parents and school board members voiced concerns about sending more than 200 special-needs students into mainstream classes and having enough teachers trained to meet their needs.

Bill Trant, the district's special education director, said Thursday that most of the concerns have been addressed.

"Overall, I'm feeling good about our progress so far," he said.

One major change in Trant's initial proposal for the plan is the number of teachers the district needed to hire with special education certification. He recommended having 16 more teachers, but 60 positions needed to be filled over the summer, due to retirements, transfers and turnover.

Trant said all but two of the positions were filled, and training is being provided, though time is limited.

A team approach is used to pair more experienced teachers with less experienced ones to help with retention and so students don't become dependent on one instructor.

Laura Holliday, Holly Tree principal, said she's amazed at the program's cohesiveness and how teachers, both general education and special education, are able to come together to make it work.

"You can walk into a classroom and you would never be able to tell which child a teacher is working with," she said. "That's how it should be."

In early December, the district should have some preliminary data showing how students are faring academically with the new plan, Trant said.

Holliday believes students will "excel because they're receiving the same instruction as the other children and receiving support."

Ellis Furst, a mother at Parsley Elementary School, said she loves the new special education plan because it offers better services and a shorter school bus trip for her daughter, Evangeline, 7, who has Down syndrome.

Furst and her husband were concerned that moving from Codington Elementary School would put their child at a disadvantage.

"We thought we were leaving the best thing, and we realized now that we've come to something better," she said.

Furst said she's grateful that many teachers voluntarily became part of the district's special education restructuring.

"I'm proud of these teachers for stepping up to the plate," she said. "I'm proud of the school system for ... expanding the program."