Special education needs community support

Special education students have different needs today from those they did 40 years ago when classroom rules were implemented. (Courtesy photo)

Concerned parents attended Monday, June 20th’s, school board meeting in hopes of convincing board members that the special education system at Manchester Community Schools deserves support and adequate teaching staff to reach out to students at all levels, from preschool through high school, who require special education services.

“I received some disturbing news that the school board is not supporting new hires of special education teachers,“ the parent of a special needs student at Manchester High School told the Mirror last week. (Note: Superintendent Brad Bezeau clarified after this article’s original publication that the decision on new hires is made by him, not by the school board.)

The Michigan Administrative Rules for Special Education (MARSE) guidelines, written back in 1979, allow teachers to carry a caseload of as many as 24 kids, depending upon the child‘s disability. These rules, written 40+ years ago, have not changed despite the increasing number of children being diagnosed with special needs in our schools, and despite myriad new regulations and developments in special education over the corresponding years.

Most “special ed“ students did not have close to the same type of needs in 1979 that special education now addresses. Many children who are now attending school under special education programs would not even have been allowed in typical district classrooms four decades ago, instead being sent to special schools or programs elsewhere.

Of a total head count of 808 students at Manchester Community Schools for the 2021–22 school year, 92, or 11.4%, were considered “special education“ students (mischooldata.org). Yet, according to a staff member, during the year just finished, a special education teaching position remained open at Riverside Intermediate School for most of the school year. When a valid candidate was interviewed and offered the position, the principal was informed that the new hire would not be approved; instead, the current Riverside special ed teacher would serve all of the special education students in the building.

“Upon receiving this information, that teacher promptly resigned as of the end of the school year,“ the staff member told the Mirror. “After that, a teacher at the Jr/Sr High School also resigned, fearing that they would next expect her to cover more students (at Riverside).“

So, now the district has one teacher who has a full caseload of students at Klager and one who works with the preschool. One teacher covers grades 7–9 and another serves students in grades 10–12, but there’s no one to work with students who are working toward a Certificate of Completion rather than a diploma.

The staff person explained that certificate students generally have bigger challenges to overcome, and Manchester has struggled to recruit and retain good special education teachers to work with the neediest students in the district, particularly in recent years.

“Frankly, it’s very demoralizing,“ they told us.

In some counties in Michigan, special education services are provided by the Intermediate School District (ISD), so outside teachers are brought into the district, provide the minimum services required, and leave. Most high-needs children are not in the regular schools.

“In our district, we have our own students here with us,“ said the staff member. “That is as it should be; as research says it should be; and as parents and families of the students want it to be. Only a small handful go to ISD programs. We SHOULD have these kids in our schools! They are our kids, too!“

Dismantling a successful program that the district has worked hard to build and maintain over the past few years is not going to help bring new students and families into our schools, parents and staff claim.

“The situation is disturbing to me as I know personally the individualized attention my child has received over the years can not be seen on paper,“ said a parent who talked to the Mirror. “These decisions will hurt the kids coming up through our schools.

“I’m going to raise my concerns at the school board meeting. I’ll keep raising them each month. I’m hopeful more parents will also stand up as word spreads.“

Superintendent Brad Bezeau clarified Monday afternoon that there is no moratorium on new hires for the Special Education Department within the Manchester Community Schools, but confirmed that they are cutting back on staffing and as a result increasing caseloads per staff members. He explained that this decision was based on the budget for the 2022-23 school year and that he determined that this was an area that called for a reduction in staffing (in addition to other areas based on student enrollment and expenditures). He also argues that it is common practice for staff members to manage close to 25 cases and that Manchester is out of step with the smaller case loads.

He stated, “In working through the staffing process for the 2022-23 school year, we had Special Education teachers with lower numbers of students on their caseloads providing Teacher Consultant (TC) services (10, 14, and 11), which is fewer than the Michigan Administrative Rules for Special Education (MARSE) guideline of a maximum caseload of 25 students. School districts typically staff their services and departments based on these rules and are often close to the maximum number of students allowed due to budgetary and enrollment constraints.”

He added, “We will continue to replace Special Education teachers as needed and as required by student IEP services in compliance with the administrative rules.”

Correction: An earlier version of this article contained a parent’s incorrect assertion this decision is being made by the school board instead of the superintendent. Additional information from a statement by Superintendent Brad Beazue received after digital publication of the article has been incorporated into the article. 

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.