Influx of pre-K special-needs students causes district to transfer some to different schools

The number of pre-kindergarten children in Manatee County schools receiving special education services has increased dramatically in the past year.

On Monday, the School Board of Manatee County will be briefed by district Exceptional Student Education (ESE) officials on how the system plans to handle the influx. While district officials tout a drop in the average class size for pre-kindergarten special-needs students, some ESE advocates claim the district is violating Florida’s school choice laws.

Superintendent Diana Greene said the number of prekindergarten ESE students went up by 53 percent in one year. The district went from 280 students in the program in 2015-16 to 427 in 2016-17.

Greene said in order to address the increase, the district added 11 new pre-kindergarten classes that will bring down the average number of students in each class from 16 to 12 next year. In order to do that, the district notified pre-kindergarten ESE students that they were being reassigned to a new school for the 2017-18 school year. District spokesman Mike Barber did not provide the specific number of children who had been notified of the change.

Some ESE advocates have said the move violates school choice policies, but according to district officials, Manatee County’s school choice policies are for grades kindergarten through 12. Greene said any parent unhappy with the new assignment can request a hardship transfer. A hardship request is when a student applies to attend a school outside their zone for a specific reason, such as programs being offered or medical reasons.

Christene Sket, an advocate who closely follows special education issues in the county, said by moving only special needs students, the district was likely to cause a “complete disruption of our most fragile students in Manatee County.”

“Parents search high and low to find a school that they feel is appropriate for their child with special needs,” Sket wrote in an email. “Many parents provide their own transportation, fully understanding there is a school in their quad that can accommodate their child. ... What this does is the opposite of choice.”

Board Chairman Charlie Kennedy said he had gotten several emails from special education advocates upset about the change, and he was looking forward to an open discussion.

“Dr. Greene and (deputy superintendent for instruction) Cynthia Saunders are pretty confident they are following the law,” Kennedy said. “Their explanations to me make sense. I’m not an ESE expert of course, but that’s why I wanted to have this workshop, to avoid this telephone game and get this info out to the public.”

Greene said the district was not sure why they had the sharp increase, and that the district was evaluating the screening methods it uses to identify children in need of special education services.

“We are not clear on what caused that massive jump and we need to evaluate everything we are doing,” she said. “I’m not saying we over-identify or under-identify, but 52.5 percent in one year is almost unheard of.”

The board workshop will take place on Monday at 3 p.m. at the School Board, 215 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.

This story was originally published April 23, 2017 at 12:45 PM with the headline "Influx of pre-K special-needs students causes district to transfer some to different schools."