Pupil Services Budget 2007/2008

What drives our budget? Faculty Support Staff / Related Services Federal/State Laws and Regulations

Program Budget Pupil & Special Services The 10% increase reflects the fact that new teaching assistant positions are included in this budget. Instructional staff increase reflects the fact that salary offsets to federal grants are no longer used. # of Students With Disabilities:

Program Budget Health Services Health and psychological services are provided for all K-12 students at in-district as well as out-of-district schools. The overall budget-to-budget increase is 20.9%, or $140,633. The increase is primarily a result of an increase of 1.0 FTE psychologist position and budgeting the full social worker salary in the general fund (previously.25 fte had been budgeted in the special aid fund).

Increase Pupil Personnel Staff This YearNext Year 1. District-wide Psychologist.4 Psychologist Occupational Therapist 1.0 Therapist 1.4 Need: Evaluate Pre-Kindergarteners Growing population in K-2, 6-8 Communication Development Classes Increased service need for K-5 students

Expand Shared Service Teacher Aide Program Maintain 3 Teaching Assistants to serve students’ IEP Instructional needs. Anticipate maintaining 6 Teacher Aides to serve students’ behavioral/physical needs. Restructure 10 Teacher Aide positions from full-time (30 hours per week) to 20 part-time positions (39 hours per week) to address students’ behavioral needs, bus/lunch supervision, etc. Increase part-time Teacher Aide hourly rate from $12.75 to $18 - $20 per hour to attract quality, long-term personnel.

Factors That Were Considered The educational needs of students. Building scheduling issues Budget implications

Educational Needs Responsibilities of the Aide in the Classroom Refocusing and Redirection Organization of Materials Clarifying Directions Facilitating appropriate socialization Data Collection Positive Reinforcement

Scheduling Increase support during unstructured times such as lunch, recess, drop off and pick up Additional 9 hours/week per position of adult supervision

Expand Shared Service Teacher Aide Program This YearNext YearSavings Salaries$ 684,575$613,695$ 70,880 Benefits$ 343,290$213,347$ 129,943 Total Compensation $1,027,865$827,042$200,823 Comparative Year Cost Analysis

F.A.Q.’s Will the shared service model decrease classroom aide support? No, the same number of classrooms will be supported by paraprofessionals. In addition we will gain an additional 9 hours per week, per position of student support time. In fact students will have increased support during unstructured times such as lunch,recess and AM/PM transportation. Will classrooms be disrupted? No, the transition between aides will take place during lunch, when staff will have an opportunity to debrief regarding student needs. In addition, general education teachers are adept at minimizing transition of staff throughout the school day.

F.A.Q.’s What are our neighboring districts doing? Just as we do not look to other districts to determine our Special Education services we are not looking to other districts for a model of aide service delivery. Our classified students are well supported with special education teachers, related service providers and paraprofessionals pushing into classrooms in order to maximize student access to the general education curriculum. How will the level of service be determined? Services for classified students are determined by the Committee for Special Education. As in previous years, groups of children in classrooms will continue to be supported by additional adults. We don’t anticipate this model increasing or decreasing the number of classified students in one classroom.

F.A.Q.’s Who will be responsible for the hiring, supervision and training of the staff? The Pupil Services’ Administration, with the input of Building Administrators, will continue to be responsible for hiring, supervising and training paraprofessional staff members. Professional Development takes place during Superintendent Conference days and throughout the year. We use consultants, administrators and faculty to provide ongoing training. Do Aides currently work with general education students? If so will this change? Aides are placed in specific classes to meet the needs of the students with disabilities assigned to that class. They may, at times, be asked to assist with a general education student but their primary responsibility is to provide support to students with disabilities.