Some Hamilton County school board members want the district to look into its staffing for exceptional education.
School board member Felice Hadden, R-Ooltewah, said she’d heard that there are teachers and staff — largely at the middle and high school levels — who do not feel safe at school because of some of the actions of mainly students with disabilities, which have resulted in on-the-job injuries.
It’s putting students and staff in difficult and dangerous situations, she said during Thursday’s board meeting. She’s heard that it’s making some teachers and staff want to leave.
“It seems that, in my opinion, that we need a location, a different placement, for students who have some of these disabilities,” she said, “where they can be themselves, better served in an environment tailored to their specific situations and to relieve the stress of some of the teachers and staff who feel like they are unable to contain students who are much bigger and stronger and have a record of on-the-job injuries.”
Hadden, who asked to add the discussion to the board’s agenda, is a former math and exceptional education teacher. She asked for the district to create a report or look into options to better serve the community.
According to the district website, the exceptional education department “commits to partnering with families and community agencies to ensure the spirit and implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act by creating, fostering and supporting inclusive environments, services and programs that meet the unique individual needs of all eligible special education students, including those students identified as gifted.”
It’s always healthy for the exceptional education department to take a look at its continuum of services, said Scott Bennett, the board’s lawyer. That continuum includes general education, other supports needed to keep students in general education and recognizing that for some students the more appropriate placement is a little more restrictive.
Bennett said he would be happy to work with an exceptional education team to figure out whether the district has the full continuum of options available.
Superintendent Justin Robertson recommended Hadden, given her background, serve as the board’s representative as the district goes through and ensures its exceptional education staffing and continuum of services is appropriate. It’s good timing to look into this now as the district’s budget season is coming up, he said.
The school board typically passes its annual budget in the spring. It then heads to the Hamilton County Commission for approval.
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School board member Jodi Schaffer, R-East Brainerd, asked about the difficulties servicing students in Westview Elementary’s response to intervention program.
Response to intervention is Tennessee’s three-tiered framework for teaching and learning. Tier three students receive intensive skills-based intervention, according to the state department of education.
During public comment at the beginning of the meeting, Marlene Wolfe, a response to intervention facilitator at Westview Elementary, said her school does not have enough support staff to serve exceptional education and tier three students. Wolfe said she is the only full-time interventionist at the school to serve 43 tier three students.
The district has a plan to get additional support to Westview Elementary, Robertson said.
Schools should be able to provide other mechanisms for intervention within their model, Deputy Superintendent Sonia Stewart said.
“It’s not as static as only the RTI facilitators provide the supports,” she said. “It can be provided in any number of ways to our tier three students.”
Contact Shannon Coan at scoan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6396.