Jose de Wit
SUN Staff Writer
Published Oct 16, 2008
An extensive reorganization of special education teachers within the Española School District over the past two weeks has left some schools with only one part-time special education teacher and a wake of upset parents at one school.
Fairview Elementary and Española middle school each lost one of their two special education teachers, who were transferred to other schools that had insufficient special education teachers or none at all, interim Special Education Director Alfred Garcia said. Another four, smaller District schools — Dixon, Velarde, San Juan and Alcalde elementary schools — are now sharing their single special education teacher with other schools, he said.
Garcia said the decision was based solely on funding.
“In an ideal world, we’d have a full-time teacher at every school,” he said. “Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world, and we receive funding according to the case load (at each school).”
The state Education Department assigns special education funding to each school based on the number of students who need special education services at that school. Each student brings to the school a certain amount of money, which depends on the severity of his or her disability, according to state Special Education Director Denise Koscielniak.
Schools like Dixon and Velarde, for example, had a full-time teacher, but not enough special education students to fund that teacher’s complete salary, Garcia said.
On the other hand, schools like Chimayó Elementary had enough students to require a part-time teacher, but employed only a substitute special education teacher instead of a permanent, certified special education teacher. To balance out the equation, special education teacher Hallie Hayden, for example, who formerly taught at Dixon Elementary full-time, now shares her time between that school and Chimayó Elementary.
In Dixon, parents and staff are not taking the loss of their full-time special education teacher sitting down. The small school has an equally small staff, and everyone shares responsibilities, head teacher Kiva Duckworth-Moulton told the School Board at a recent meeting.
Dixon’s school secretary sometimes pitches in with cafeteria dishes. Students are grouped in combined classes that put one teacher in charge of two grades. And special education teacher Hayden coached students in the District’s intensive math and reading curricula. That means Dixon Elementary didn’t just lose a special education teacher, it lost an extra pair of hands.
Throw in the fact that the school lost its librarian over the summer, and that’s enough to make for a group of vocally frustrated parents.
Pamela Rodriguez, whose child is a sixth-grader at Dixon Elementary, said a petition passed around the community has already gathered at least 60 signatures — a large number considering only 72 students attend the school. The school’s Parent Teacher Organization plans to present the petition to Superintendent David Cockerham and the Board, she said.
“We’re pretty much running on a skeleton crew,” Rodriguez said. “Now they’re trying to take our special ed teacher. That takes everything off balance.”
Wanda Madrid is the mother of two Dixon Elementary students. She agreed with Rodriguez, and said it seems the District unfairly picks on smaller schools.
“Small schools bring in money, too,” Madrid said. “They should be treated equally when it comes to making sure they have all the resources they need.”
Cockerham said he plans for the arrangement to be temporary.
“That’s the plan, at least,” Cockerham said. “We hope.”