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School District Continues with Private Special Ed Program
Citizen-Dispatch staff report
Special education continues to be one of the costliest programs for school districts around the state. In Hillside, for instance, over 100 students currently attend special schools outside the district, for which the Board of Education must pay the transportation and tuition costs.
And with tuition ranging anywhere from $20,000 to well over $60,000 per student - well over what the district spends on students enrolled in regular classes - it is no wonder the Hillside Board of Education opted to continue with its contract with Innovative Educational Programs (IEP).
IEP is a private company that manages school programs for children with special education needs.
Classes are offered for autistic, emotionally disturbed, and multiply disabled students.
The company employs its own teachers and administrators and purchases its own supplies but pays the host school district fees for using school facilities.
The school board's goal is to not have to transport students out of district, thereby saving on tuition and transportation costs.
For fiscal year 2003 alone, the district is expected to save over $184,000 in transportation costs. That figure is projected to rise well over $280,000 by the next year.
The school district also charges tuition to students who are not in the Hillside school district but wish to attend the program in Hillside.
The IEP program, which has been in place in Hillside for over two years, is expected to benefit Hillside $546,428 in 2003 and $878,854 by the next year as the program expands.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Raymond Bandlow stresses that the benefit to the district is not a "profit", but rather a savings of money that the district would have had to spend to send the students to other districts.
HIGH SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION STILL ON HOLD
A plan to construct a three-story annex to the High School is still on hold after the concept was developed by the Superintendent almost two years ago.
The addition would provide Hillside with further cost-benefit because the building would be properly constructed to provide for the needs of special, physical needs students.
The structure would also serve to house classes for the High School's College Preparatory schools.
A shutdown in state aid from the McGreevey administration brought the Hillside project to a standstill.
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