Sayville School Board Gives Green Light to Special Ed Program

The Sayville School District Board of Education gave the green light on the implementation of a special education program in the district at its Thursday meeting .

Last month, special education coordinator Mary Bohleber presented the board with a new elementary level, personalized special education program based on specific student needs as well as the new common core standards. Currently, numerous students with special needs go out of district for their education.

While the program has received the board’s blessing, it is still contingent upon how many parents decide to enroll their children. The program is set to begin on July 1 with summer school.  

Based on the eight students anticipated for enrollment next year, the cost of the program would be $886,000. The district would realize a cost savings of $326,000 from four students returning from out of district, leaving a net cost of $560,000.

“Of course there are some startup costs, but in two to three years it could be a cost savings to the district, again depending on how many students we have,” Superintendent Walter Schartner said. “If you build it, they will come.”

The 'Program to Access Learning for Students' (PALS) would be able to accommodate up to 12 students in two classrooms on a 6:1:1 ratio at .

The board members were all in agreement that it is a good move both for the children and from a financial point of view.

Looking ahead to the next Board of Education meeting on Jan. 12, Schartner expects to unveil the first draft of the 2012-13 budget.

“The first draft will be based on assumptions since we won’t have any hard numbers,” he said. “The 2 percent tax cap, which is really a 2 percent tax levy, has several exceptions to it.

"Those exceptions are put into a capital formula with numbers that aren’t available yet. So we are going to start the process based on some assumptions and some guessing. We will move forward with what have because we need to move forward.”