Thursday, November 2, 2006
Four additional special
education staff will be hired to address a spike in severe
behavior problems this fall in some Portland elementary
schools, the School Committee decided Wednesday.
The hires will cost $131,000
in salary and benefits for the rest of the school year and
will require school administrators to reduce spending in
other areas, Superintendent Mary Jo O'Connor said.
School officials attributed
the spike in behavior problems to an increase in the number
of students with autism and other mental and psychological
disabilities, sometimes with a combination of disabilities.
Some of the students are new to the system, including some of the 15 kindergarteners who have been diagnosed with autism-spectrum disorders, said Barbara Dee, Portland's director of student support services. Others have attended Portland schools for a while but their disabilities and their outbursts have intensified, she said.
Outbursts among special
education students have increased throughout the district,
Dee said, but they have been most severe at the East End and
Riverton elementary schools and King Middle School. Reported
behaviors range from throwing chairs to hitting students to
knocking over teachers.
"We have never experienced the
level we have seen since September," Dee said. "It's beyond
tantrums. These kids are exploding."
The department will hire two
full-time special education teachers ($39,200 each for the
remainder of the year) and two full-time special education
educational technicians ($26,300 each).
One teacher and ed tech will
staff a new functional life skills program at the Reiche
Elementary School. That program will be dedicated to
students with significant mental and physical disabilities,
Dee said.
The other teacher and ed tech
will staff a new behavioral resource program at the East End
Community School. That program will be dedicated to students
with significant behavioral and emotional issues, Dee said.
Each program will serve eight
to 10 students and provide opportunities for one-on-one
instruction outside mainstream classrooms. Students may be
relocated from other schools to attend the programs,
officials said.
When some committee members
questioned the spending request, Dee and O'Connor said the
special education programs are mandated by federal and state
law.
Portland public schools have
about 400 special education staff and 1,135 special
education students, including children with speech, hearing
and vision impairments, according to Dee.
The number of special
education students has remained relatively constant over the
past decade, despite a drop in student enrollment from 8,196
in 1997 to 7,217 in early 2006. The number of autistic
students in the district increased 48 percent in the past 12
months, from 42 last year to 62 this year. The district
identified four autistic students in 1998.
Last spring, school officials
projected that 10 children with autism would enter
Portland's kindergarten classes in the fall, identified
through preschool programs in the city. They also predicted
increased costs related to educating the students.
Autism is a neurological
disorder that affects brain function, inhibiting
communication, reasoning and social skills, most often in
boys. It is considered a spectrum disorder because it
affects individuals differently and to varying degrees.
While some people with autism exhibit anti-social behavior,
others do not, according to the Autism Society of Maine.
Staff Writer Kelley
Bouchard can be reached at 791-6328 or