Pilot Program May Redefine Special Education in Township Schools

The Warren Township Board of Education reviewed a proposal to bring specialized instructors to provide education for a group of autistic kindergarten and pre-school students, in a plan that could save the district and rewrite planning for future needs.

According to Faye Brady, the district's director of student personnel services, the proposal to contract for teaching services with the Morris-Union Jointure Commission could save as much as $330,000 for six students being considered for the program. According to Brady, the MUJC is seeking $50,098 per student, compared to $80,000 per student in tuition for similar services out of the district (plus transportation costs of up to $30,000).

"It will be an in-district program but not provided by in-district staff," Brady said. "It is really taking their (the MUJC) program and bringing it into the district."

The pilot program will be launched at Mt. Horeb School, with a class of four kindergarten students and two pre-school students. Brady said the district's staff is not sufficiently experienced with students with "mid-range" autistic diagnosis as these students are, but the MUJC staff is widely recognized as a leading provider of education for such students.

District teachers would be providing support to the MUJC instructors in the classroom—as well as learning from them. Consequently, the district's own capabilities for teaching more developmentally disabled students will be enhanced, according to Brady.

She also noted if the program is successful, it can be expanded to include more students and grades.

Many parents of autistic students have sought placement in specialized learning facilities, such as the MUJC facility in Warren, because of the effectiveness of the highly-trained teachers there. Brady said parents of the students who will be in the pilot program have agreed to keep their children at the township school if the MUJC teachers are leading the classes.

"We have an opportunity to give our youngest students with autism a very, very high-level program provided by the experts," Brady said.

The program will include regular evaluations of the classroom, and while the district will not have direct oversight of the MUJC teachers, administrators will be consulted for the MUJC employees' reviews.