Special Ed Costs: “It’s a moving and evolving target”

From the BCCT.

Changes costly for districts
One of the biggest mandates — and likely costliest — establishes training requirements for special education support staff.
By THERESA HEGEL

State special education regulations that went into effect in July will require some costly adjustments from school districts, according to a longtime education lawyer.

Andrew Faust, whose New Britain law firm represents about 200 school districts and intermediate units in Pennsylvania, outlined some of those mandates at Wednesday night’s meeting of the Bucks County Right to Education Task Force.

One of the biggest — and likely costliest — establishes training requirements for special education support staff.

By July 2010, instructional aides and other “paraprofessionals” must have completed at least two years of college or pass rigor ous state or local assessments, he said.

Effective this year, staff must have 20 hours of relevant training for each year of employment. And districts must be able to document that such training has taken place by the end of the school year.

“It’s a pretty big deal,” Faust said, because the rules were put into place after districts had finalized their current budgets.

He said he believes most districts will open up teacher training to the support staff to meet the requirements.

Another pricey piece of the law involves providing alternative print forms to the learning disabled simultaneously with traditional texts — “no excuses, no delays,” he said.

In the past, there has often been a lag between distribution of conventional materials and availability of, for example, audio recordings for special needs students.

Now all texts and workbooks that districts purchase must include a universal file format that allows easy conversion to Braille, computer-based reading software or digital audio recordings.

Though Faust outlined some rather extensive changes to the system, he was quick to point out the fluidity of education law and noted that parents and educators could expect more adjustments in the future.

“It’s a moving and evolving target,” he said.